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Danny Masterson.
Photo: Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Danny Masterson has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women in 2003. Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo gave the sentence after hearing statements from women who suffered at the hands of Masterson. He received the maximum possible sentence for his conviction. “You were not convicted based on rumors, innuendo, gossip, and speculation,” Olmedo said, per court reporter Meghann Cuniff. The sentencing started this morning, and Masterson’s family appeared in support. A jury found the That ’70s Show actor guilty of two counts of rape in May following seven days of deliberation at the Los Angeles Superior Court, and he has been in jail since. We will be updating this story with live developments.
“Niesha and Chrissie have displayed tremendous strength and bravery, by coming forward to law enforcement and participating directly in two grueling criminal trials,” said Alison Anderson, partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and attorney for the survivors. “Despite persistent harassment, obstruction, and intimidation, these courageous women helped hold a ruthless sexual predator accountable today, and they are not stopping there. They are eager to soon tell the fuller story of how Scientology and its enablers tried desperately to keep them from coming forward.”
Masterson was originally charged with three counts of forcible rape that took place at his Hollywood home during his stint on the early-aughts sitcom, but the jury could not reach a unanimous decision regarding the prosecutor’s allegation that the actor raped his longtime girlfriend. The guilty verdict arrived after Masterson’s first trial late last year failed to reach a consensus among the jury and subsequently was declared a mistrial. Prosecutors argued that the Church of Scientology — of which Masterson and the three women were members — shielded him from consequences due to his prominent role. The women testified that they reported him to church officials, who did not believe their claims, and were placed in ethics classes and discouraged from going to the police. “The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement,” a statement from the church said, per the Associated Press, adding that the testimony about the church was “uniformly false.”
This post has been updated throughout.
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