Danny Masterson: That ’70s Show actor charged with rapes of three women

Danny Masterson, the actor known for That ‘70s Show, has been charged with the rapes of three women in the early 2000s, Los Angeles prosecutors said Wednesday.

The three counts of rape by force or fear come after a three-year investigation of the 44-year-old Masterson. The charges were filed Tuesday and Masterson was arrested late Wednesday morning, jail records showed. He was released a few hours later after posting bond and is scheduled to be arraigned 18 September.

Masterson is charged with raping a 23-year-old woman in 2001, a 28-year-old woman in early 2003 and a 23-year-old woman in late 2003. If convicted, he could face up to 45 years in prison.

Prosecutors declined to file charges in two other Masterson cases that police had investigated, one because of insufficient evidence and the other because the statute of limitations had expired.

Masterson’s attorney Tom Mesereau said his client “is innocent, we’re confident that he will be exonerated when all the evidence finally comes to light and witnesses have the opportunity to testify”.

“Obviously, Mr Masterson and his wife are in complete shock considering that these nearly 20-year old allegations are suddenly resulting in charges being filed, but they and their family are comforted knowing that ultimately the truth will come out,“ Mesereau said in a statement. “The people who know Mr Masterson know his character and know the allegations to be false.”

Masterson has been married to the actor and model Bijou Phillips since 2011.

The alleged rapes took place at the height of Masterson’s fame as he starred on the retro sitcom That ’70s Show alongside Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace. The series ran on Fox TV from 1998 to 2006 and has had a long afterlife in reruns.

He had reunited with Kutcher on the Netflix western sitcom The Ranch when the LAPD investigation of him was revealed in March 2017. The news did not have immediate career repercussions for Masterson, but later in the year, after allegations against Harvey Weinstein shook the film industry, he was written off the show.

Masterson decried the Hollywood atmosphere that led to his losing the job, and also suggested at the time that his high-profile membership in the Church of Scientology was leading to his persecution.

Because police were already investigating him, Masterson’s case was not among those taken up by a taskforce formed by Jackie Lacey, the Los Angeles county district attorney, to investigate sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry. That taskforce has declined to file charges in more than 20 cases in the two years of its existence, charging only Weinstein himself.

Los Angeles prosecutors have begun efforts to bring Weinstein to California to face charges of rape and sexual assault. He is being held in a New York prison after being convicted of similar charges earlier this year.

Masterson’s case stands out as just the second set of charges Los Angeles prosecutors have filed against a famous Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era. .

Image Source:*theguardian.com

Source:theguardian.com