A prosecutor in the Danny Masterson rape trial described the behavior and actions of the formerThat ’70s Showactor as “predatory in nature as well as opportunistic.”
Masterson, 47, was sentenced Sept. 7 to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women at his Hollywood Hills home in the early 2000s.
“It’s been a long time coming for them to get their justice,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller tells PEOPLE in an interview.
Mueller says the judge’s prison sentence was “absolutely the right decision.”
Masterson was charged in 2020 with forcibly raping three women in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003. Masterson, whose previous prosecution for raping three women ended in a mistrial in 2022, was convicted of two of the charges.
Mueller says Masterson was “consistent in the manner in which he forcibly raped each of his victims.”
“He surreptitiously drugged the victims using an alcoholic beverage as the vehicle for administration, and then forcibly raped them as they became incapacitated,” he says. “This afforded him the opportunity to obtain control and dominance over his victims as he carried out his forcible assaults.”
C Flanigan/Getty
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There was no toxicology analysis done to verify what the victims were allegedly drugged with, but Mueller says “our suspicion is that the drug used was GHB, based largely on the nature of the consistent symptoms experienced and rapid onset."
Mueller noted there’s no confirmation the victims were drugged with GHB.
Danny Masterson on sentencing day.Mona Shafer Edwards / BACKGRID
Mona Shafer Edwards / BACKGRID
Danny Masterson and wife Bijou Phillips.BACKGRID
BACKGRID
Victims Speak Out: ‘You Are Pathetic’
Mueller believes that Masterson “always thought he was going to get away with it."
Before Masterson was sentenced, the women gave victim impact statements in Los Angeles County Superior Court about the trauma they endured and its impact over the years.
“When you raped me, you stole from me,” wrote one victim—an actress whom Masterson invited to his home in the fall of 2003—in a statement she read. “You relish in hurting women. It is your addiction.”
“You wanted my light,” she said. “You steal women’s radiance. You treated us like we were less than trash beneath you, but deep down you coveted precisely those beautiful things in us that you could not find in yourself.”
“You are pathetic, disturbed, and extremely violent, and the world is safer with you in prison.”
Danny Masterson.Nicola Goode/Alamy
Nicola Goode/Alamy
Mueller praised the bravery of the women who came forward.
“I know they did it at a cost,” he says. “There’s a lot of reasons that people are afraid to come forward. These victims overcame that. And ultimately, despite the length of time and what issues there may have been in this case, the jury saw through that, made the right decision, came together and found justice for these victims.”
Many of the allegations against Masterson first surfaced in March 2017 when the LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division confirmed an investigation was taking place into sexual assault allegations against the actor.
After the allegations came to light, Masterson was removed from the Netflix seriesThe Ranch— which he appeared in alongside formerThat ’70s ShowcostarAshton Kutcher. United Talent Agency also cut ties with the actor.
Danny Masterson.LUCY NICHOLSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
LUCY NICHOLSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
Masterson’s defense attorney Shawn Holley said in a statement to PEOPLE after the verdict that he will appeal.
“For the past several months, a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing the transcripts of the trial. They have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts,” the statement said.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
