His days of freedom are over. |
Mentioned by name.
Danny Masterson is found guilty in California of rape. He is best known for his role on That's 70s Show and being married to actress/singer Bijou Phillips. The former actor was handcuffed and led away to the Los Angeles County lockup.
Masterson will join Tory Lanez in a possible 30 years lockup. Lanez faces a similar fate and labeling due to his shooting conviction of then girlfriend Megan Thee Stallion
The former actor will be labeled a TIER III offender.
The seven-woman, five-man jury could not reach a verdict on a third count, which alleged the sexual predator raped a former girlfriend, after having deliberated for over a week, The Associated Press reported.
The predator, 47, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs while his wife wept. His family and friends sat in stunned silence.
The verdict came some six months after the predator’s first trial, at which he also faced charges of raping three women he met through the Church of Scientology, ended in a mistrial, with jurors leaning toward acquittal.
He was charged with raping the three women — identified at trial as Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #3 — at his Hollywood Hills home from 2001 to 2003.
All three accusers are former members of the Church of Scientology, to which the predator still belongs.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior," Jane Doe #2 said after the verdict was handed down. "I am disappointed that he was not convicted on all counts, but take great solace in the fact that he, the Church of Scientology, and others, will have to fully account for their abhorrent actions in civil court.”
Jane Doe #3, whose count the jury did not convict the predator on, said she was "devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me. "
"Despite my disappointment in this outcome, I remain determined to secure justice, including in civil court, where I, along with my co-plaintiffs, will shine a light on how Scientology and other conspirators enabled and sought to cover up Masterson’s monstrous behavior,” she said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón thanked all of the women who came forward.
"Their courage and strength have been an inspiration to us all," Gascón said in a release after the verdict. “While we are disappointed that the jury did not convict on all counts, we respect their decision. The verdicts handed down by the jury in this case were undoubtedly a difficult one to reach and we thank the jurors for their service."
Just as in his first trial, the predator did not take the stand. And his defense attorneys declined to call any witnesses.
Bijou Phillips may have to divorce him. He won't see her and their child for years. |
He has also denied assaulting a fourth woman, identified as Jane Doe #4, who told the court at his first trial he had raped her, too.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo initially denied the prosecution’s request to put Jane Doe #4 on the stand in the first trial, but she changed her mind after prosecutors argued that Masterson’s lawyer opened the door by suggesting that his three other accusers colluded against him. The predator was not charged with raping the fourth woman.
Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller put Jane Doe #4 on the stand again at Masterson’s retrial along with a fifth woman, who testified that Masterson raped her in 2000 after a cast party in Toronto, Deadline reported. The fifth woman did not testify in the first trial. Unlike the predator and the three Jane Does he was charged with raping, the additional witnesses are not Scientologists.
Both trials focused a lot of unwanted attention on the Church of Scientology, which the Jane Does have accused of trying to cover up the allegations.
At the retrial, Olmedo made it clear once again that Scientology was not a defendant. But she again allowed witnesses to testify that church officials pressured them not to talk to police about the rape allegations.
Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw has denied those allegations and insisted, repeatedly, that church doctrine requires members to “abide by all the laws of the land.”
Diana Dasrath reported from Los Angeles and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.
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