American actor Danny Masterson, prominent member of the Church of Scientology known for his role in the series That ’70s Show, was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for two rapes by a Los Angeles court. The 47-year-old actor, who was found guilty in June, received the maximum sentence he faced.
During his trial, three women, also Scientologists, accused him of raping them at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. The jurors agreed with two of them and were not unanimous. necessary to pronounce a verdict on the third. At the hearing, the prosecution estimated that the actor had “drugged and raped” his victims.
This case, triggered in 2017 in the wake of accusations against ex-producer Harvey Weinstein which caused the birth of the #MeToo movement, also raised questions about the role of the Church of Scientology.
Harassment and poisoned dog
Two of the complainants notably assured that the organization, very well established in Los Angeles, had dissuaded them from contacting the police.
One of the accusers, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, is the wife of At The Drive-in singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The couple had claimed to have been victims of harassment by the Church of Scientology and accused the organization for having poisoned one of their dogs with rat poison in retaliation.
Danny Masterson’s defense insisted that the plaintiffs’ version had evolved over the years and suggested that prejudice against Scientology could have motivated the trial. During a previous trial in November, a different jury refused to reach a verdict, failing to reach unanimity.
Other prescribed charges
Danny Masterson rose to prominence in the late 1990s for his role in the series That ’70s Show alongside Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. He also appeared more recently alongside the latter in the Netflix series The Ranchbut was dropped in 2017 after the Los Angeles police confirmed they were investigating sexual assault accusations against him.
After the actor’s arrest in June 2020, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it had dropped two other sexual assault charges against him, due to lack of evidence and because the facts were time-barred. .