American actor Danny Masterson was found guilty on two of three charges of rape by a Los Angeles jury. The TV show’s star might spend the next 30 years behind bars. He was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
The actor is accused of sexually assaulting three women at his Hollywood home between 2001 and 2003; all three were former members of the Church of Scientology. The prosecution claimed Masterson used his high profile as a Scientologist to avoid being held accountable for his actions.
A previous jury also failed to reach a decision in December 2022. This time around, the court allowed the prosecution to submit fresh evidence that had been excluded from Masterson’s initial trial. The actresses were dosed before the actor raped them, yet the actor was not charged with drugging his victims.
When the #MeToo movement was at its peak in 2017, Masterson was first accused of rape. The Los Angeles Police Department spent three years investigating the case before filing charges. The Church of Scientology has always refuted the prosecution’s claims that it covered up the assaults during the trial.
Masterson and all three of his victims were Scientologists at the time of the assaults. Some of the victims claimed it took them a long time to come out since Church of Scientology leaders had told them not to go to the police about the rape.
According to the prosecution, one victim was threatened with expulsion from the Church of Scientology unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement and received a payment of $400,000 (£320,000).
Judge Charlaine Olmedo asked all sides to present their arguments about Scientology’s principles and practises. Defence attorneys spent the whole trial criticising the “Jane Does” by pointing out irregularities in their evidence and suggesting that what drove them was a desire for “revenge” on their former church.
A lawyer with links to the Church of Scientology wrote the district attorney’s office to express displeasure with the prosecution’s portrayal of the Church during the retrial, despite the fact that Scientology was not a party to the case.
As there was no evidence of violence or force, the defence claimed that the prosecution was relying primarily on drug-related testimony. Masterson’s attorneys attempted to have a mistrial declared but were unsuccessful.
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