Holley argued that Masterson has “lived an exemplary life”. “And the life of his nine-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world.” “It’s his life that will be impacted by what you decide today,” Masterson’s lawyer Shawn Holley told the judge before the sentencing. The prosecution asked for the full 30-years-to-life sentence Masterson was eligible for. The defense sought to have sentences for the two convictions run simultaneously and asked for a sentence of 15 years to life. The judge sentenced the actor after rejecting a defense motion for a new trial. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction. They could not reach a verdict on the third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend. In May, a jury of seven women and five men found Masterson guilty of two counts after seven days of deliberations. Prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this year. The case went to trial last year with Masterson facing three counts of rape, but an initial jury failed to reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial. Most recently he had appeared on the 2016 Netflix comedy The Ranch, but was written off the show when it was revealed in March 2017 that he was under investigation by the Los Angeles police for rape. The attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom That 70s Show. The women whose testimony led to Masterson’s conviction said he gave them drinks and they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them. I wish I’d reported him sooner to the police.” She told the judge, “I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. The other woman Masterson was found guilty of raping said he “has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused”. “The world is better off with you in prison.” “You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent,” she said. “That’s what rape is, a theft of the spirit. “When you raped me, you stole from me,” said one woman whom Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003. The actor, who has been in custody since May, watched the women without visible reaction as they spoke. On Thursday, Masterson sat in a Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit. Prosecutors argued during the trial that Masterson, a prominent scientologist, used his role in the church to avoid accountability for the attacks. The trial, in which the Church of Scientology repeatedly took center stage, marked the rare prosecution of a Hollywood figure in the #MeToo era. The sentencing comes after a jury found Masterson guilty of two counts of rape in May.
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