How deep is the Scientology cult in this rape case?
US actor Danny Masterson (47, “That Seventies Show”) is on Thursday for raping two women to 30 years in prison To be sentenced. The former TV star was found guilty by the court in May.
The high sentence is a shock not only for Masterson, but also for his desperate wife Bijou Phillips (43), who was present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. Eyewitnesses described the actress as a “shell of her former self.”
Danny Masterson was convicted of rape
Danny Masterson and his two victims are members of the highly controversial Scientology cult, which apparently knew about the allegations against Masterson for decades.
Masterson showed no reaction when Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Charlaine Olmedo returned her sentence: 15 years for each of the two rapes, with sentences being imposed sequentially.
This court drawing shows Masterson (left) and one of his victims (right with handkerchief) during the tearful testimony in the courtroom
Meanwhile, his wife, Bijou Phillips, sat dejectedly among a group of Scientology friends and family members. She sobbed and held a tissue to her face. When her husband was led away to prison after the verdict, he blew his wife a kiss!
Danny Masterson (l.) was already in court in 2020 on allegations of rape. Here with his lawyer Thomas Mesereau
Before sentencing, Judge Olmedo told Masterson, “While you have steadfastly maintained your innocence, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago were criminal and that is why you are here today.”
Masterson’s victims had previously tearfully told the courtroom how he ruined their lives. Before the verdict was announced, they spoke directly to their tormentor. The first wife said to him, “You are pathetic, deranged and extremely violent, and the world is safer when you are in prison.”
Danny Masterson (far left, playing Steven Hyde) with Ashton Kutcher (second left as Michael Kelso) on an episode of That ’70s Show
The second woman added: “You are a real coward and a heartless monster. I think life is an appropriate sentence!”
She would to this day suffer from an extreme fear of the dark and frequently wake up crying at night. Sometimes, she said, she hides in a closet or screams out the window.
The woman went on to say that she was born into a Scientologist family and that when she reported the rape to the church, a senior official “made it clear that Danny was untouchable.”
“I didn’t choose to be born into Scientology – and I didn’t choose to be raped by Danny Masterson,” said the mother of three daughters, fighting back tears. Scientology tried to silence and intimidate her.
“I wish I had reported him to the police sooner,” she said, adding that at no point did Masterson “show an ounce of remorse for the pain I suffered.”
Before sentencing, Masterson’s attorney, Shawn Holley, urged the judge not to give the sentences of 15 years to life consecutively, but concurrently, saying it was “fair and just.”
Prosecutor Reinhold Mueller held a press conference following the sentencing of Danny Masterson
Prosecutor Reinhold Mueller, on the other hand, asked the judge to impose a sentence of 30 years to life, saying Holley’s plea for just 15 years was “not fair and just.” Thirty years to life in prison are well deserved.
He explained: “After the first rape, Masterson had time to think about what he had done. Still, he raped again.”
Masterson was free on $3.3 million bail during his trial, which lasted several years. That freedom ended with his double conviction on May 31. Since then he has been incarcerated in the notorious Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
This place will probably be his new home for a long time.
