Actor Danny Masterson appears at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn., on June 7, 2017.A jury found "That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of rape Wednesday in a Los Angeles retrial in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Prosecutors, retrying Masterson after a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in December, said he forcibly raped three women, including a longtime girlfriend, in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. They told jurors he drugged the women's drinks so he could rape them. They said he used his prominence in the church - where all three women were also members at the time - to avoid consequences for decades.
Tensions ran high in the courtroom between current and former Scientologists, and even leaked into testimony, with the accusers saying on the stand that they felt intimidated by some members in the room. "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."
Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ABC7NY - 🏆 592. / 51 Read more »
Source: abc7newsbayarea - 🏆 529. / 51 Read more »
Source: wsfa12news - 🏆 338. / 59 Read more »
Source: NBCNewYork - 🏆 270. / 63 Read more »
Source: TheAVClub - 🏆 340. / 59 Read more »
Source: wmag - 🏆 723. / 51 Read more »