That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson goes on trial for rape, why Scientology plays a part

That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson has gone to trial for three charges of forced rape and faces up to 45 years to life in prison.

The trial for Masterson, 46, will take place in Los Angeles, with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office first announcing in June 2020 that he had been charged with three separate counts of rape in connection with incidents affecting three separate women that allegedly occurred in 2001 and 2003.

Masterson has denied all of the charges and says he is looking forward to clearing his name. Meantime, jury selection for the trial took place on October 11, 2022.

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One point that has brought some speculation into Masterson's trial is the role of Scientology. According to Variety, at a pre-trial hearing last week, Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo made a surprising statement.

"This is not going to become a trial on Scientology," she said.

Masterson is a Scientologist, and all three of his accusers were members of the church at the time of the alleged assaults.

Judge Olmedo has said that she will allow "some" testimony about Scientology, to the extent that it helps the accusers explain why they delayed going to the police about the incidents, reports Variety.

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All three of the accusers claimed at a preliminary hearing in May 2021 that they feared violating the church's rules and being cut off from their faith community if they went to the police.

"If you have a legal situation, you may not handle it externally from the church," testified one of the accusers, claimed she would have been "excommunicated" for going public.

Another claimed her parents would have "disowned" her if she did.

It was only decided last week that Masterson's case would be handled in the US civil court, and not through a Scientology-run arbitration process, reports Variety.

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The three accusers reportedly filed a lawsuit in 2019 against Masterson and the church, alleging that they were victims of "fair game" attacks after going to the police.

After this formal process, the US Supreme Court had to decide if it would allow the church to handle the situation, which it ultimately denied.

So far, Variety reports that Masterson's lawyers claim the three accusers have "formed a sisterhood" that aims to take down Masterson and the church. The defenec has also argued that the women are lying about consensual encounters because they want to extract a civil judgment.

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Title: That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson goes on trial for rape, why Scientology plays a part
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/danny-masterson-that-70s-show-star-goes-on-trial-for-rape-why-scientology-plays-a-part/3c4866e4-53c1-441b-9dab-6a5c1a5299e1
Published Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2022 19:10:00 GMT