That 70s show star Danny Masterson faces 30 years in jail after a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape.
The US actor and high profile Scientologist, was led from court in handcuffs, as his wife, actor and model Bijou Phillips, wept.
Prosecutors said the 47 year-old forcibly raped three women in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003 when Masterson was at the height of his fame, as Steven Hyde on “That ’70s Show” — the nostalgic comedy that made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace. The jury could not reach a verdict on the third count, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend.
The two women whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction said that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them. He knew both from social circles in the church.
The third, Masterson’s then-girlfriend of five years whose count left the jury deadlocked, said she awoke to find him raping her, and had to pull his hair to stop him.
They said he used his prominence in the church — where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades.
The women testified that when they reported Masterson to church officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing.
“They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors in his closing argument. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them. You have the opportunity to show them there is justice.”
The church vehemently denied having any policy that forbids members from going to secular authorities.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behaviour,” one of the women, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of raping at his home in 2003, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Masterson declined comment, but his attorneys will almost certainly appeal.
Masterson will be held without bail until he is sentenced with a hearing scheduled for August 4.
