A Los Angeles jury found “That 70s Show” actor Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of rape in a retrial on Wednesday after several women he met through the Church of Scientology accused him of sexual assault in the early 2000s.
The jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after seven days total of deliberation, according to reports, but couldn’t reach a decision on another sexual assault charge involving an ex-girlfriend Chrissie Carnell-Bixler, with 8 of 12 jurors favoring a guilty verdict.
The retrial comes after three women — Carnell-Bixler and two Jane Does — came forward over six years ago and accused Masterson of sexually assaulting them between 2001 and 2003, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Masterson allegedly drugged and raped the women in his Hollywood Hills home. A judge declared the first round of deliberations a mistrial in November after the jury deadlocked.
Masterson, 47, reportedly said the sexual relations between him and his accusers were consensual and denied the rape allegations that the women brought against him during the #MeToo wave in 2018.
“It seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused,” he said when the allegations were first brought against him.
Defense attorneys Phillip Cohen and Shawn Holley reportedly claimed police reports and testimonies included discrepancies and told jurors to disregard evidence related to the Church of Scientology.
“If you decide that a witness deliberately lied about something in this case,” Cohen told jurors in his closing argument, “You should consider not believing anything that witness says.”
The women reportedly testified that church officials conspired with Masterson to cover up the incidents and not to report a member to law enforcement. They have previously said the reason the Los Angeles Police Department and other law enforcement agencies refused to pursue Masterson is that Masterson is a Scientologist, and the church intervened in his case, impeding the investigation by filing “50 affidavits from Scientologists who denied the woman’s account.”
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“They were raped, they were punished for it, and they were retaliated against,” Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller told jurors in his closing argument. “Scientology told them there’s no justice for them. You have the opportunity to show them there is justice.”
Scientology church officials have “vehemently denied having any policy that forbids members from going to secular authorities,” the Associated Press reported.
Jane Doe 3 reportedly said she was “devastated” by the mistrial on her count.
“I thank the jury for its service, and while I’m encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment, I am devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me,” Jane Doe 3 said in a statement provided to ABC News through her attorneys from Boies Schiller Flexner. “Despite my disappointment in this outcome, I remain determined to secure justice, including in civil court, where I, along with my co-plaintiffs, will shine a light on how Scientology and other conspirators enabled and sought to cover up Masterson’s monstrous behavior.”
Jane Doe 2, also represented by Boies Schiller Flexner, reportedly echoed Jane Doe 3’s disappointment that the jury did not convict Masterson on all three counts.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions – relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness – knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” Jane Doe 2 said in a statement. “I am disappointed that he was not convicted on all counts, but take great solace in the fact that he, the Church of Scientology and others will have to fully account for their abhorrent actions in civil court.”
Carnell-Bixler, whose count left the jury deadlocked, said in the statement reported by ABC: “While I’m encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment, I am devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me.”
Masterson, who left the courtroom in handcuffs, faces 30 years to life in prison. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for August 4.