Actor Danny Masterson Sentenced To 30 Years To Life For Rape

On Sept. 7, 2023, a judge sentenced actor Danny Masterson, 47, to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.

On May 31, 2023, a jury found Masterson guilty on two of three counts of rape. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney, there was a hung jury on the third count.

The verdict came after Masterson's second trial. His first trial started in October 2022 and was declared a mistrial in November after jurors remained deadlocked, CNN reported.

A former girlfriend of Danny Masterson, known as Christina B and Jane Doe 3, said she faced retaliation from the Church of Scientology when she reported allegedly being raped by the That ‘70s Show actor, toward the end of their 6-year relationship.

Christina B. (CB) testified in the 2022 trial that she contacted the church’s ethics officer, Miranda Scoggins who told her “no crime was committed” and it was her job “to give him sex whenever he wanted,” Variety reported.

“There was something I was doing or something I had done to deserve what he was doing to me,” she testified. “We are all responsible for the condition that we’re in — that is what we’re taught… I still struggle with that even today.”

CB said she was placed in an “ethics program,” and told to read about “suppressive persons.”

She said the idea of her being declared a suppressive person for reporting Masterson, “almost put me in a state of terror.”

“I just needed to do as I was told and I was not to tell anybody,” she said on the stand. She also said she initially didn’t want to report the incident to the police for fear “they would destroy me.”

She did go to the Los Angeles Police Department in December 2016, according to Yahoo News.

Christina B. alleged she woke up, one night in November 2001, to find Masterson raping her. Variety reported she testified that during the incident, she grabbed Masterson by the hair, and he hit her in the face. When he was done, he allegedly spit on her and called her “white trash.”

Another victim, known as Jane Doe 1, testified the week of Oct. 25, 2022, as well. She alleged that Masterson raped her in 2002, according to Variety.

She also testified of another alleged unwanted sexual encounter in 2003. She went to his house, and he put something in her drink and then threw her in the jacuzzi. She said she threw up and Masterson picked her up and put her in the shower, in which, at one point he was massaging her breasts with soap.

Jane Doe 1 eventually went to the Church of Scientology who allegedly told her to “make peace” with Masterson and required her to complete a few weeks of the “ethics program.”

“My understanding, my entire life, was that you can never be a victim,” she said on the stand. “Nothing ever happens to you that you didn’t cause. No matter what condition you find yourself in life, no matter how horrible, you are responsible. You created that.”

*This article was originally published on 11/01/22 and updated on 09/08/23.