Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years for rape

Danny Masterson, who featured as Steven Hyde in the sitcom, “That ’70s Show”, has been sentenced to 30 years imprisonment over multiple rape charges.

Masterson, who also appeared in the Netflix series “The Ranch” but was fired due to multiple rape allegations against him, was in May, convicted of drugging and raping fellow members of the Church of Scientology between 2001 and 2003.

This was actually Masterson’s second rape trial, as a previous trial ended in a mistrial when the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision. Masterson had been in custody since his conviction.

It’s worth noting that Masterson’s character was written off “The Ranch” after the rape allegations came to light.

The three victims in this case were members of the Church of Scientology, and two of them claimed that church officials discouraged them from reporting the crimes to law enforcement.

Masterson’s defense team questioned the focus on Scientology during the trial, suggesting bias against the church may have influenced the proceedings.

The Church of Scientology, however, denied any attempts to silence the victims and stated that their policies encourage reporting criminal conduct to law enforcement.