Danny Masterson Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Raping Two Women

Sept. 7, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Danny Masterson, the 47-year-old star “That ’70s Show,” has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for raping two women, giving them some relief after they spoke in court about the decades of damage he inflicted.

“When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”

“You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she said. “The world is better off with you in prison.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo sentenced to Masterson after hearing statements from the women, and pleas for leniency from defense attorneys.

The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court wearing a suit as he watched the women without any apparent reaction while they spoke. He maintained his innocence during the trial. His attorneys said they plan to appeal.

The actor, who played Stephen Hyde, pleaded not guilty to all three rape charges in 2021 and went on trial, but it was declared a mistrial in December 2022 after the jury was deadlocked.

During the second trial, a jury found Masterson guilty of two of three rape counts on May 31. But the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third woman’s sexual abuse allegations. Both attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood home in 2003, when he was at the height of his popularity on the Fox network comedy “That ’70s Show.”