Masterson arrives at court in Los Angeles
A Los Angeles jury has indicted actor Danny Masterson on two out of three counts of rape.
He faces the star of the TV series ’70s Show That, up to 30 years in prison. He was taken out of court handcuffed.
Three women, all former members of the Church of Scientology, had accused the actor of sexually assaulting them at his Hollywood home from 2001-2003.
Prosecutors said Masterson relied on his status as a prominent member of the followers Church to avoid accountability.
The jury, consisting of seven women and five men, was unable to reach a verdict on the third charge after a week of deliberations.
One of his victims, who was raped in 2003, said in a statement carried by The Associated Press: “I experience a complex set of feelings: the relief, exhaustion, strength, and grief of knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior.”
Masterson’s wife, actress Bijou Phillips, wept as he was led away, CBC News reports. Other family and friends sat with blank faces.
Another jury in a previous trial in December 2022 was unable to reach a verdict.
Prosecutors chose to retry Masterson, and this time the judge allowed the lawyers to introduce new evidence that had been blocked during the first trial.
Although the actor was not accused of drugging his victims, the jury heard testimony that the women were under the influence of the drug before he raped them.
Masterson was first accused of rape in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement. He responded by saying that he had not been charged or convicted of a crime, and that in the climate of the time “you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused”.
The charges followed a three-year investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. Prosecutors did not press charges in two other cases due to insufficient evidence and a statute of limitations.
Prosecutors argued throughout the trial that the Church of Scientology helped cover up the assaults, an allegation the Church categorically denied.
At the time of the attacks, Masterson and all three defendants were members of the Church of Scientology. Many of the women said it took them years to file a complaint because Church of Scientology officials prevented them from reporting the rape to the police.
Instead, they were forced to rely on the church’s “internal system of justice,” prosecutors said.
A survivor was told by Church of Scientology officials she would be expelled from the church unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $400,000 (£320,000), according to prosecutors.
Judge Charlene Olmedo allowed both sides to discuss Scientology’s doctrine and practices.
But Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told the jurors during the trial: “The church taught the defendant’s victims that ‘rape is not rape, you caused it, and above all, you are never allowed to use the law’.”
Throughout the trial, the defense attempted to undermine the “Jane Doe”‘s credibility by focusing on inconsistencies in their testimony and their supposed motives for “revenge” on their former church.
“If you’re looking for motives to make people dishonest, there are motives everywhere,” Masterson’s defense attorney said of the survivors during closing arguments.
Although the Church of Scientology was not a defendant in the case, a lawyer with ties to the church before closing arguments began sent an email to the district attorney’s office to complain about the way the church was portrayed during the retrial.
The defense also argued that the prosecution relied too heavily on testimony about drugging because there was no evidence of any force or violence.
Masterson’s lawyers unsuccessfully tried to state that there were errors in the trial.
