A decide sentenced “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in jail Thursday for the rapes of two ladies 20 years in the past.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old Masterson after listening to statements from the ladies concerning the trauma they skilled and the struggling brought on by the disturbing recollections within the years since.
The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court docket sporting a swimsuit. Masterson watched the ladies with out seen response as they spoke.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” mentioned one girl who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
“You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she mentioned. “The world is better off with you in prison.”
The different girl Masterson was discovered responsible of raping mentioned he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused.” She advised the decide, “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.”
After an preliminary jury failed to succeed in verdicts on three counts of rape in December and a mistrial was declared, prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this yr.
This time, a jury of seven ladies and 5 males discovered Masterson responsible of two counts on May 31 after seven days of deliberations. Both assaults befell in Masterson’s Hollywood-area residence in 2003, when he was on the top of his fame on the Fox community sitcom “That ’70s Show.”
They couldn’t attain a verdict on the third depend, an allegation that Masterson additionally raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction.
The decide sentenced the actor after rejecting a protection movement for a brand new trial that was argued earlier Thursday.
“Mr. Masterson, I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Olmedo advised Masterson earlier than handing down the sentence. “But Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.”
The protection sought to have sentences for the 2 convictions run concurrently, and requested for a sentence of 15 years to life. The prosecution requested for the total 30 years to life sentence Masterson was eligible for.
“It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today,” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley advised the decide earlier than the sentencing. “And the life of his 9-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.”
“He has lived an exemplary life, he has been an extraordinary father, husband, brother, son, co-worker and community servant,” Holley mentioned.
Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence within the Church of Scientology — the place all three ladies have been additionally members on the time — to keep away from penalties for many years after the assaults.
The ladies blamed the church for his or her hesitancy in going to police about Masterson. They testified that after they reported him to Scientology officers, they have been advised they weren’t raped, have been put by ethics applications themselves, and have been warned in opposition to going to legislation enforcement to report a member of such excessive standing.
The church mentioned in an announcement after the decision that the “testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” throughout the trial have been “uniformly false.”
“The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” the assertion mentioned.
Masterson didn’t testify, and his attorneys known as no witnesses. The protection argued that the acts have been consensual, and tried to discredit the ladies’s tales by highlighting adjustments and inconsistencies over time, which they mentioned confirmed indicators of coordination between them.
The ladies whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction mentioned that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then turned woozy or handed out earlier than he violently raped them.
Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to say immediately within the second trial that Masterson drugged the ladies, whereas solely permitting the ladies to explain their situation within the first.
Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there was no toxicology proof to again up the assertion. The subject might be a think about a deliberate attraction from the protection of Masterson’s conviction.
The Associated Press doesn’t usually title individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused.
Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in “That ’70s Show” from 1998 till 2006.
He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy “The Ranch,” however was written off the present when a Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the next yr.
While that investigation started earlier than a wave of ladies shook Hollywood with tales about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the conviction and sentencing of Masterson nonetheless represents a serious #MeToo period success for Los Angeles prosecutors, together with the conviction of Weinstein himself final yr.
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