30 Years of prison to Danny Masterson for raping

On Thursday, September 7, 2023, the Los Angeles Superior Court delivered the verdict, with Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo announcing the life imprisonment sentence for 47-year-old Danny Masterson for raping two women 20 years ago in the early 2000s.

Danny Peter Masterson, the convicted rapist, is an American actor known for his role as Steven Hyde in That ’70s Show (1998-2006). In May 2023, Masterson was convicted of raping two women, both former members of the Church of Scientology.

Following an initial jury’s inability to reach a verdict in 2022, Masterson underwent a retrial and was found guilty in May. After the guilty verdict, Masterson was incarcerated due to being deemed a flight risk.

The conviction stems from three women who accused Masterson of sexually assaulting them at his Hollywood home between 2001 and 2003, during the peak of his television fame. Masterson’s conviction involved the rape of two out of the three accusers, with a mistrial declared over the third accuser’s allegations. The prosecution has stated that they have no plans to retry the case.

During the trial, testimony revealed that Masterson had given drugs to the victims before assaulting them. Alison Anderson, the lawyer representing two of the victims, acknowledged the tremendous strength and bravery displayed by the women in coming forward to law enforcement and participating in two grueling criminal trials. Both victims, who were members of the Church of Scientology, delivered powerful statements directly to Masterson before he learned his fate. The road to justice, a long time coming, spanned two decades before Danny Masterson was finally found guilty of rape.

Allegations arose that the Church of Scientology played a role in delaying justice, as it was claimed that the church prevented the victims from reporting the assaults. The women asserted that, once they came forward, they faced harassment and threats from the church.