STORY: Actor Danny Masterson, finest identified for his position on ‘That 70s Present’, was convicted of raping two girls between 2001 and 2003 by a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday.
Three girls, all former members of the Church of Scientology, accuse the actor of sexual assault at his Hollywood residence.
Allegations that got here to gentle in 2017 in the course of the peak of the #MeToo motion.
A jury was deadlocked on one other cost that Masterson had raped a 3rd lady throughout the identical interval.
The 47-year-old actor had pleaded not responsible to the rape prices.
Protection lawyer Philip Cohen had urged jurors to acquit his consumer.
In line with Metropolis Information Service, a regional information wire protecting southern California, Cohen questioned the credibility of the ladies, and stated that their tales had been tweaked over time.
The rape allegations drew consideration partly as a result of Masterson had met the ladies by the Church of Scientology, which in response to the accusers, discouraged them from reporting the rape to police.
The Church of Scientology has rejected that declare.
In an announcement cited by Metropolis Information Service, the church stated it has quote ‘no coverage prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting legal conduct of anybody, Scientologists or not, to regulation enforcement.’