Danny Masterson , star of “That ’70s Show”, was convicted Wednesday in Los Angeles on two counts.
After deliberating over a week on a third charge, alleging that Masterson raped a previous girlfriend, the Associated Press informed.
Masterson was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom while his wife Bijou Phillips, an actor and model, wept. Family and friends were stunned into silence.
When he is sentenced, the 47-year old actor could face up to 30 years behind bars.
The verdict comes six months after Masterson’s firsttrial in which he was also accused of raping 3 women whom he met via the Church of Scientology, ended with a mistrial. Jurors were leaning toward acquitting, the actor.
Masterson was accused of raping at least three women, identified as Jane Does #1, #2 and #3 at his Hollywood Hills residence between 2001 and 2003.
All three accused are former members of Church of Scientology to which Masterson is still a member.
Jane Doe No. 2 said, “I feel a range of emotions – relief, exhaustion and strength, as well as sadness, knowing that Danny Masterson will be held accountable for his criminal conduct,” after the verdict. “I’m disappointed that he wasn’t convicted of all charges, but I take great comfort in the fact that Danny Masterson, the Church of Scientology and others will have to account fully for their abhorrent acts in civil court.”
Jane Doe 3, whose count was not convicted by the jury, expressed her “devastation” that Masterson had escaped criminal responsibility for his “heinous conduct”.
She said, “Despite being disappointed in the outcome, I am determined to obtain justice, even in civil court. I will, with my co-plaintiffs shine a spotlight on how Scientology, and other conspirators, enabled and tried to cover up Masterson’s monstrous behaviour.”
George Gascon, the Los Angeles County district attorney, thanked the women who spoke up in this case.
Gascon stated in a press release that the courage and strength of these men had been an inspiration for us all. While we are disappointed the jury didn’t convict all charges, we respect their choice. We thank the jurors in this case for their service. The jury’s verdicts were certainly difficult to reach.
As in his first case, Masterson did not take the witness stand. Masterson’s attorneys refused to call any witnesses.
Masterson has denied the accusations made by the women since his arrest in June 2020 by the Robbery-Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The sitcom star also denied assaulting another woman, Jane Doe #4, who claimed to the court in his first trial that he had also raped them.
Judge Charlaine Oledo initially refused the prosecution’s demand to have Jane Doe # 4 testify in the first case. However, she changed her mind when prosecutors claimed that Masterson’s lawyer had opened the door for the prosecution by suggesting that Masterson’s three other accusers were conspiring against him. Masterson wasn’t criminally charged for raping the 4th woman.
District Attorney Reinhold Müller brought Jane Doe #5 to the witness stand at Masterson’s retrial, along with a woman who said the actor had raped them in 2000, after a party for the cast in Toronto. Deadline. The fifth woman didn’t testify at the first trial. The additional witnesses, unlike Masterson and his three Jane Does with whom he has been charged of rape, are not scientologists.
The Jane Does accuse the Church of Scientology of trying to hide the accusations against the actor.
Olmedo reiterated that Scientology is not a defendant at the retrial. The judge allowed to again testify that church officials had pressured them to not speak to police about rape accusations.
Karin Pouw, a Scientology spokesperson, has repeatedly denied these allegations, and insisted that church doctrine requires its members to “abide all laws of the Land.”
Diana Dasrath from Los Angeles and Corky Siemaszko in New York City
