2023-09-09 04:45:52
How deep is the Scientology cult in this rape case?
US actor Danny Masterson (47, “The Wild Seventies”) was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for raping two women. 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
Foto: Getty Images
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 as Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo announced her sentence: 15 years for each of the two rapes, with the sentences to run consecutively.
This court drawing shows Masterson (l.) and one of his victims (right with a handkerchief) during the tearful testimony in the hall
Foto: action press
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
Foto: LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS
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 woman told him: “You are pathetic, disturbed and extremely violent, and the world is safer when you are in prison.”
Danny Masterson (far left, played Steven Hyde) with Ashton Kutcher (second from left as Michael Kelso) on an episode of “The Roaring ’70s”
Foto: imago images/Everett Collection
The second woman added: “You are a real coward and a heartless monster. I think life is an appropriate sentence!”
To this day, she would suffer from an extreme fear of the dark and would often 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.”
also read
“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 to impose the sentences of 15 years to life concurrently rather than consecutively, saying it would be “fair and just.”
Prosecutor Reinhold Mueller gave a press conference after Danny Masterson was sentenced
Foto: Ryan Pearson/AP
Prosecutor Reinhold Mueller, however, 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 was 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.
#Danny #Masterson #blew #wife #kiss #rape #verdict #Entertainment