Danny Masterson Ordered To Stand Trial Against Rape Charges

HOLLYWOOD, CA — A judge Friday ordered actor Danny Masterson to stand trial on three counts of rape, stemming from allegations from three separate women who said Masterson raped them between 2001-2003. Judge Charlaine Olmedo said she would accept the accusers' delays in reporting the crimes due to their affiliation with the Church of Scientology, whom victims say pressured them into staying silent because Masterson was in good standing with the church.

"I found all three witnesses to be credible and the evidence sufficient to support the charges," said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo, who ordered the 45-year-old defendant to report back to her courtroom June 7 for arraignment.

Masterson remains free on $3.3 milllion bail. Judge Olmedo ordered him to surrender his passport ahead of the June 7 arraignment.

Best known for appearing on "That '70s Show" and "The Ranch," Masterson has denied the allegations that he raped the three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.

The criminal complaint, filed last June, alleges that Masterson raped a 23-year-old woman between January and December 2001. He is also charged with raping a woman who was 28 at the time and a 23-year-old woman he had invited to his home some time between October and December 2003, according to Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller.

During an emotional testimony last week, one of Masterson's accusers detailed the night of April 25, 2003, when she says the actor drugged her and eventually raped her while waving a pistol in front of her face. The woman says she had went to his home to grab a set of keys, and that Masterson gave her a vodka mixed drink that had drugs in it.

The woman claimed the drink left her so groggy that when Masterson threw her in a hot tub, she was unable to climb out.

After she started vomiting, she says Masterson took her back inside and told her to go into the shower to cleanup. The woman says she briefly lost consciousness before coming to her senses in the bathtub, where Masterson was fondling her exposed breasts.

"I pushed him in the chest," she said. "I couldn't believe his hands were on my breasts."

The woman said she tried to punch him, but was too weak to have an impact. She says the actor then put her on the bed and began to rape her, continuing on even as she pulled his hair and put a pillow in his face while floating in and out of consciousness.

At one point, she said Masterson took a gun out of his drawer, telling her not to move as he threatened her.

"I came to and he was on top of me and he was inside of me," the woman testified.

Sharon Applebaum, one of Masterson's lawyers, argued that two of the accusers, known only as Jennifer B. and N. Trout, had consensual sex with the actor. She said the rape alleged by the third alleged victim, former Masterson flame Christina B., never happened.

"He did not force anyone to have sex with him," the defense attorney said.

Applebaum also accused the three women of colluding against Masterson, saying they were in constant contact with each other and eventually sued him in a case that is now in arbitration. Applebaum also said Jennifer B. previously obtained money from Masterson in 2004, and told the judge that none of the women reported their allegations to police quickly and all of them changed their stories over time.

Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller argued there was no collusion and that the women did their best to describe what happened in each individual case.

"These were not rehearsed statements, they were heartfelt," Mueller said.

Masterson was arrested last June 17 by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division and released about three hours later on a $3.3 million bond. The actor could face 45 years to life in state prison if convicted.

City News Service contributed to this report.