Danny Masterson Sentenced to 30 Years to Life in Prison in Rape Case

Kisha Forde
·2 min read
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Originally appeared on E! Online

Danny Masterson will serve time behind bars in connection to his rape conviction.

Three months after a jury found the That '70s Show alum guilty of two counts of rape, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has sentenced the 47-year-old to 30 years to life in prison, according to NBC News.

In May, Masterson—who was arrested and charged on three counts of forcible rape in 2020—was found guilty of raping two women between 2001 and 2003 at his Hollywood Hills home, with the jury unable to reach a verdict on a third count alleging he raped a former girlfriend, per NBC News.

Prosecutors alleged that Masterson sexually assaulted three women—who they said The Ranch actor met through the Church of Scientology—at his Hollywood Hills home in separate incidents. The verdict came six months after a mistrial was declared in Masterson's case, in which the jury was unable to reach unanimous decisions on the three rape charges.

His new trial began earlier this year, in which his three accusers, identified as Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #3, each gave emotional testimonies, according to the Associated Press.

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The women previously accused the Church of Scientology of pressuring them into not reporting the allegations to police. However, the church denied those claims in a June 1 statement obtained by E! News, saying that the organization "has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone—Scientologists or not—to law enforcement."

Masterson, who previously pled not guilty to the charges, did not testify during the retrial, per NBC News. After his verdict, according to the outlet, the Men at Work actor was taken away from the courtroom in handcuffs as his wife Bijou Phillips shed tears.

Danny Masterson
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for CMT

In response to the guilty verdict, Jane Doe #2 said in a statement outside of the courtroom at the time that she was feeling a "complex array of emotions," per NBC News, including "relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness," adding that she was "disappointed that he was not convicted on all counts."

"But take great solace in the fact that he, the Church of Scientology, and others," she continued, "will have to fully account for their abhorrent actions in civil court."

Jane Doe #3, whose rape charge the jury did not reach a verdict on, said she felt "devastated" that Masterson "dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me."

E! News reached out to Masterson's attorneys for comment and has not heard back.

(E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family.)

For free, confidential help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rainn.org.