US actor, Danny Masterson has been sentenced to 30 years Imprisonment for drugging and then raping fellow members of the Church of Scientology.
Masterson was convicted in May for rapping two women in Scientology between 2001 and 2003 at his home in the swanky Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles and since then, he has been in custody awaiting final verdict.
On Thursday, September 7, Judge Charlaine Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court imposed the maximum sentence allowed by law adding that Masterson, will be eligible for parole in 25-1/2 years.
This was the second trial for the 47-year-old, after previous proceedings were declared a mistrial in November when a different jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
The jury in the retrial deadlocked on another rape charge against a third woman. That charge was dismissed.
The actor rose to fame with the 1998 launch of retro sitcom “That ’70s Show,” where he played the character of Steven Hyde alongside fellow stars 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 denied that claim and said Masterson’s religion should not have been an issue in the case, calling it “an unprecedented violation of the First Amendment.”
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone, Scientologists or not, to law enforcement.
“Quite the opposite, church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.”
AFP
