Danny Masterson: That 70’s Show actor given 30 years to life in prison for raping two women
Actor Danny Masterson has been given a jail sentence of 30 years to life for raping two women 20 years ago.
Masterson, best known for his role in TV comedy That 70’s Show, was handed the prison term after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F Olmedo heard from the women he assaulted, who detailed their trauma and suffering.
The 47-year-old US actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in his suit without a reaction as the pair spoke.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman.
“That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
“You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent. The world is better off with you in prison.”
The other woman, who he also raped in 2003, said Masterson “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.”
A mistrial was declared in December 2022 after a jury failed to reach a verdict on three rape counts, and he was retried on all charges.
He was found guilty by a majority decision of two counts on 31 May, after seven days of deliberations, but the jury could not reach a verdict on the third count allegedly involving another woman.
Masterson was sentenced after a defence motion for a new trial was rejected, with his lawyers trying to have the two convictions run concurrently at 15 years to life.
“It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today,” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley told the judge.
“And the life of his nine-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.
“He has lived an exemplary life, he has been an extraordinary father, husband, brother, son, co-worker and community servant.”
Danny Masterson leaves Los Angeles Superior Court with his wife Bijou Phillips in November 2022. Pic: AP
Prosecutors argued his position in the controversial Church of Scientology, where the two women and one alleged victim were also members, was used to avoid consequences afterwards, with the women blaming the organisation for their hesitancy in going to the police.
In a statement, the church said the “testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs” during the trial were “uniformly false”.
“The church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone – Scientologists or not – to law enforcement.”
Masterson did not testify, nor did his lawyers call any witnesses, with the defence instead arguing the acts were consensual.
The women, whose evidence led to his conviction, said that in 2003 Masterson gave them drinks that made them feel light-headed, before they passed out and he raped them.
That 70’s Show, which ran for eight series from 1998 to 2006, revolved around a group of teenage friends, and was set in 1970s Wisconsin.
Charlie Kirk has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump.
The USA’s highest civilian honour was received by the conservative activist’s widow, Erika, at the White House.
Mr Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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Has Charlie Kirk become a MAGA ‘martyr’?
And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
Read more:
What do we know about Erika Kirk?
Charlie Kirk’s movement is growing in wake of his assassination
Charlie Kirk. File pic: AP
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
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