Actor Danny Masterson, who starred in That 70s Show, was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women two decades ago, The Guardian reports. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo handed issued the sentence to Masterson, 47, after hearing statements from the women about the trauma and suffering they experienced. A jury found Masterson guilty in May. The trial, in which the Church of Scientology took center stage, marked a rare prosecution of a Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era. Prosecutors argued that Masterson, a prominent scientologist, used his role in the church to avoid accountability for the attacks.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” one woman whom Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003, said in court on Thursday. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit. You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she said. “The world is better off with you in prison.” The other woman Masterson was found guilty of raping said he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused”. She told the judge, “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I’m so upset. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.” The women said Masterson gave them drinks and they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them. The attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom That 70s Show. He appeared on the 2016 Netflix comedy The Ranch, but was removed when it was revealed that he was under investigation by the Los Angeles police for rape. Masterson’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, told the judge Masterson has “lived an exemplary life.”
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