A California judge blasted actor Danny Masterson as she sentenced him to 30 years behind bars for raping two women who gave powerful victim impact statements in court.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo told the disgraced That ‘70s Show star that he had no one to blame but himself for the heavy sentence she was handing him.
Masterson, who is 47 and has a nine-year-old daughter, will not be able to apply for parole until he is 77 years old.
“I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that has failed you,” Judge Olmedo told Masterson before handing down the sentence.
“But Mr Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person’s voice, and choice. One way or another you will have to come to terms with your prior actions, and their consequences.”
The judge told him that she knew he was sitting in court wondering “how you can be convicted of each charge of a sexual incident occurring 20 years ago” involving “a woman who you believe is disgruntled and has a vendetta against you.”
And she bluntly told him that “you were not convicted on the testimony of one person.”
Danny Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips arrive for closing arguments in his second trial, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Los Angeles— (Invision)
“You were not convicted based on rumours, innuendo, gossip and speculation. You were convicted based on evidence that 12 people in the community found to be credible. … You were convicted because each of the victims reported the rapes to someone shortly after the rapes occurred.”
Masterson’s defence team, which did not call the actor to testify or any other witnesses, told the jury that the acts were consensual.
During her sentencing, the judge appeared to deride Masterson’s decision to pay one of the victims almost $1m to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Judge Olmedo told the court that it was “an awful lot to pay” for a crime he claimed had never taken place.
Masterson was found guilty by a jury of two counts of rape on 31 May after seven days of deliberations.
The court was told that both attacks took place at Masterson’s home in the Hollywood area of the city in 2003 when he was a member of the cast of the hit Fox sitcom.
The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson had raped a longtime girlfriend.
A mistrial was declared in Masterson’s first trial in December 2022 after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape.
