Actor Danny Masterson leaves Los Angeles Superior Court with his wife Bijou Phillips after a judge declared a mistrial in his 2022 rape case.
Brian Melley/AP
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Brian Melley/AP
Actor Danny Masterson leaves Los Angeles Superior Court with his wife Bijou Phillips after a judge declared a mistrial in his 2022 rape case.
Brian Melley/AP
A judge has sentenced ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.
“It has been a long and arduous journey for Mr. Masterson’s victims,” read a statement from prosecutor George Gascón. “Not only have they survived its abuse, but they have also survived a system that is often not kind to victims.”
NPR reached out to Masterson’s attorney for a statement.
Masterson, a member of the Church of Scientology, was a star of the hit sitcom “That ’70s Show,” which ran from 1998 to 2006. He was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2017, which kicked off an LAPD investigation. In June 2020, he was accused of raping three women, including his former girlfriend, at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. All three women had met Masterson through the Church of Scientology.
“You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” one of the women told Masterson in court this morning, according to The Associated Press.
A deadlocked jury led to a mistrial last year. Prosecutors retried Masterson in May, telling jurors he drugged the women’s drinks and the church tried to silence them. The jury found him guilty of two counts of rape, but could not reach a verdict on the allegation that he raped his longtime girlfriend.
Masterson’s last role was on the Netflix sitcom “The Ranch” with “That ’70s Show” alum Ashton Kutcher. But he was written off the show in 2017, following the allegations.
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