An actor from ‘That ’70s Show’ found guilty of two rapes.

Actor Danny Masterson, popular for being the star of the series ‘That ’70s Show,’ has been found guilty of two counts of rape. He was accused of raping three women between the ages of 24 and 29 at his Hollywood home.

As the ‘AP’ agency collects, the sentence for these crimes can be up to 30 years in prison. Until the final sentence is handed down, the actor will remain detained without the right to pay bail. The final sentence confirming the conviction is expected to be read during the first week of August.

Masterson met his victims between 2001 and 2003, when they were all part of the Church of Scientology. At trial, prosecutors have insisted that the actor used his status as a “prominent Scientologist” to dodge charges. In addition, as reported by the ‘BBC’, the women he attacked declared that the organization dissuaded them from filing a complaint at the time of the events. Two of them expressed that they were threatened with being expelled from the church.

The jury has found Danny Masterson guilty on two of the counts, while the jury has been unable to agree on the actor’s guilt or innocence on the third.

The accusations against the actor began in 2017. At the time, he was working on Netflix’s ‘The Ranch’, but he was fired and his character was eliminated in the plot, after the Los Angeles police confirmed that they were investigating various allegations of violation against him.

At the time, prosecutors dropped two other sexual assault cases against Masterson for lack of evidence. In 2021, the process for the cases for which he has been convicted was opened when the authorities found “sufficient evidence”, an accusation from which the interpreter defended himself.

The prosecution’s arguments

During closing arguments in the trial in early May, prosecutors said Masterson “drugged and raped each of these victims” and asked the jury to “hold him accountable for what he has done.” Ultimately, he alone was tried on the rape charges.

“I am experiencing a complex series of emotions: relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness, knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face responsibility for his criminal behavior,” one of the victims said in a statement.

Masterson’s lawyers questioned in their closing arguments that there was “a lot of talk about Scientology,” suggesting that bias against the church might have motivated the decision.

The accusations against Masterson came months before the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo movement.