For raping two women at his house two decades ago, actor Danny Masterson, a star of the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced Thursday to at least 30 years in prison.
The US actor was found guilty in May of drugging and raping other Scientology adherents between 2001 and 2003 at his home in the posh Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo stated that she was aware that Masterson continued to assert his innocence while imposing a sentence of 15 years to life on each conviction for rape, to be served consecutively.
“Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here,” she told him, adding that his actions had taken away another person’s voice and choice.
Masterson, who is married to actress Bijou Phillips, and who has a nine-year-old daughter, was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon his release from prison.
One of Masterson’s victims, identified as Jane Doe 2, told the actor in court: “You relish… hurting women.”
“You lived your life behind a mask as two people. But the real one sits here,” she said, adding the world is “safer” with Masterson in jail.
For 47-year-old Masterson, it was his second rape trial after the first one ended in a mistrial in November when a separate jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Another charge of rape against a third woman resulted in a deadlocked jury in the retrial. That accusation was dropped.
Since his conviction, Masterson has been detained while awaiting sentencing.
The actor became well-known after the 1998 premiere of the classic comedy “That ’70s Show,” in which he co-starred as Steven Hyde with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.
He co-starred again with Kutcher on Netflix’s “The Ranch,” but was fired in 2017 and written off the show after Los Angeles police confirmed they were investigating multiple rape allegations against the actor.
The three women at the heart of the charges against Masterson were members of the Church of Scientology at the time. Two of them said church officials had discouraged them from contacting law enforcement.
Masterson’s lawyers in closing arguments questioned why the court had heard “so much about Scientology,” and the defense had suggested that bias against the church could have been a motivating factor.
The Church of Scientology criticized the notion that it had tried to silence the complaints.
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone, Scientologists or not, to law enforcement,” a statement said.
“Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.”
