‘That ’70s Show’ Actor Danny Masterson Gets 30 Years For Rapes Of 2 Women
(LOS ANGELES) – Danny Masterson, the star of “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for raping two women, providing them some solace after they talked in court about the decades of devastation he wrought.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one of the victims of Masterson’s rape in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
“You’re pathetic, disturbed, and completely violent,” she declared. “The world is better off with you in prison.”
After hearing the women’s allegations and defense attorneys’ pleas for fairness, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo sentenced the 47-year-old Danny.
The actor, who has been detained since May, dressed formally in court. Masterson stood there silently, watching the women as they spoke. He maintains his innocence, and his lawyers intend to file an appeal.
The other woman Danny raped stated he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with,” she told the judge. I’m deeply sad and upset. I wish I had reported him to the police sooner.”
Prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this year after an initial jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape in December, resulting in a mistrial.
Masterson waived his opportunity to speak before being sentenced, and neither he nor the many family members sitting beside him showed any outward reaction to the judge’s decision. Earlier in the hearing, his wife, actress Bijou Phillips, was visibly moved.
Danny Masterson, the star of “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for raping two women.
On May 31, Masterson was found guilty of two of three rape counts in his second trial. Both attacks occurred in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, at the height of his stardom from the Fox network series “That ’70s Show.”
They could not decide on the third accusation, which said that Danny had raped a longtime lover.
The actor was sentenced after the judge denied the defense’s plea for a fresh trial, which was debated earlier Thursday. The penalty was the utmost permissible by law. Danny will be eligible for parole after serving 25 1/2 years but could be imprisoned for life.
“I know you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimised by a justice system that has failed you,” Olmedo said before delivering the sentence to Masterson. “However, Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim in this case. Your actions 20 years ago robbed another individual of their voice and choice. You will have to confront your previous choices and their repercussions in some way.”
The defense requested that the terms for the two convictions run concurrently and requested a sentence of 15 years to life. The prosecution sought the maximum punishment of 30 years to life for Masterson.
“What you decide today will have an impact on his life,” Masterson’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, told the judge before the sentencing. “And the life of his 9-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.”
Danny Masterson, the star of “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for raping two women.
Holley stated following the hearing that “Mr. Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted.” She stated that an appellate team has uncovered “several significant evidentiary and constitutional issues” with his convictions, which she believes will be reversed.
Prosecutors claimed that Masterson exploited his position in the Church of Scientology, of which all three women were members at the time, to evade punishment for decades after the attacks, and the ladies blamed the church for their reluctance to report Masterson to police.
At the sentencing hearing, one of the women, born into a religion like Masterson, said she was rejected and ostracised for reporting the abuse in 2004.
“I had lost everything.” I had lost my faith. “I lost contact with anyone I’d known or loved my entire life,” she explained. “I didn’t exist outside of Scientology.” At the age of 29, I had to restart my life. The world I knew didn’t seem to want me to survive.”
In a statement issued during the trial, the church stated that it has “no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement.” It has also stated that it has never harassed any of the ladies.
The woman’s 2004 police report resulted in no charges, but she went to authorities when she learned they were investigating Masterson again in 2016. The other two ladies had reported him to church officials for over 15 years.
The ladies testified at both trials that they were at Masterson’s house in 2003 when he drugged them before raping them.
Danny Masterson, the star of “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for raping two women.
They said on Thursday that the trauma had harmed their relationships and filled their lives with anxiety for decades. They did, however, express relief at his sentencing.
“I don’t have to carry your shame around with me anymore,” stated the first woman to speak up. “You must now bear that shame.” You must sit in a cell and keep it.”
From 1998 through 2006, Masterson co-starred in “That ’70s Show” with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace.
He reconnected with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” but was fired after the Los Angeles Police Department probe was publicized the following year.
While the investigation began before a wave of women rattled Hollywood with revelations about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the prosecution and sentencing of Masterson and Weinstein’s conviction last year represented a landmark #MeToo era win for Los Angeles prosecutors.
SOURCE – (AP)
