A judge on Thursday sentenced “That ‘70s Show” star Danny Masterson to serve 30 years to life in prison after he was convicted of raping two women decades earlier.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo handed down the sentence after hearing from women who described the trauma they have dealt with in the years since the rapes, The Associated Press reported.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” one woman who Masterson was convicted of raping said in court, according to the AP. “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.”
Earlier, prosecutors said Masterson could face a maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison. Olmedo sentenced Masterson to 15 years to life in prison for each of the rape charges, with each of the sentences to be served consecutively, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In June, a jury found Masterson guilty of two counts of rape by force or fear after deliberating the case for more than six days. The panel was deadlocked on a rape allegation involving a third victim, prosecutors said.
Jurors found that Masterson raped two women, 23 and 28, at his home in separate incidents months apart in 2003.
The victims were former members of the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a high-profile member, the Times reported. They said they waited years to come forward because church doctrine barred them from reporting a fellow member of the church to police, according to the newspaper.
In November 2022, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the case against Masterson. The guilty verdicts handed down in May came after a retrial.
Masterson, 47, starred in “That ‘70s Show” alongside Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutch, Lauren Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama from 1998 to 2006. He most recently starred alongside Kutcher in the Netflix show “The Ranch” from 2016 to 2018.
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