Danny Masterson’s rape victims have accused the Church of Scientology of trying to ‘derail’ the trial against him by running a ‘campaign of harassment and intimidation’ against a prosecutor, according to court documents.
They claim, in December filings seen by the LA Times, that the ‘prosecutor’s home and car windows were broken, the prosecutor’s home electronics were tampered with, and Defendants’ agents surveilled the prosecutor.’
The declaration did not name the prosecutor or offer any additional detail and the Church has vigorously denied that members had anything to do with the incidents, according to the Times.
Prominent scientologist and actor, Masterson, was convicted last May of raping two women in the early 2000s.
He was sentenced in September by a Los Angeles jury to 30 years to life behind bars with the possibility of parole for two counts of rape with force, violence or fear of bodily injury.
Prominent scientologist and actor, Masterson, was convicted last May of raping two women – his wife, Bijou Phillips, left, has since filed for divorce
His victims claim that the Church, led by David Miscavige (pictured), led a ‘campaign of harassment and intimidation’ against a prosecutor
It isn’t the first time the Church has been accused of meddling in his trial (pictured: the Church’s headquarter in California)
After his sentencing, Masterson was expelled from the Church of Scientology and declared a ‘suppressive person’ – or ‘SP’ – which the church defines as someone whose behavior seeks to impede the spiritual progress of those around him.
But even with the expulsion, the church maintains that Masterson is innocent of all charges, according to insiders.
And the newly unearthed documents aren’t the first time the Church has been accused of meddling in his trial.
Last year, LA County Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller recounted, in an award acceptance speech seen by the Times, similar allegations to the lawsuit saying he had experienced a string of alarming incidents in late 2022 ahead of Masterson’s trial.
He said he had been ‘run off the road’ and his house was vandalized and cell signal had been knocked out at his home.
He said LAPD detectives on the case were also ‘stalked.’ He didn’t explicitly blame Scientology in the speech, but law enforcement sources later told The Times that he had privately accused the church of being behind the incidents.
The sources told the outlet that Mueller’s wife had found a broken window in their home while he was away, and that an investigation was ongoing.
DailyMail.com contacted the Church for comment. They told LA Times: ‘Allegations that the Church harassed or intimidated witnesses, prosecutors, or law enforcement officers are categorically false.
‘There is zero evidence to support these scandalous allegations — indeed, all available evidence demonstrates the Church had nothing to do with the alleged acts.’
Mueller was not the only person to accuse the Church of intimidation, LAPD officers who investigated Masterson said they had been ‘surveilled, watched’ or experienced ‘some type of harassment’ which ‘they attributed to agents or individuals from the Church of Scientology’, according to The Times.
But an LAPD investigation turned up no proof that the Church harassed the detectives, Moore said in an interview with The Times last year.
One of the victims in the case claimed in the suit that the Church tampered with her home security systems and that someone tried to ‘run [her] off the road].
In their case against Masterson, the victims said that it had taken them years to come forward because Scientology forbids its members from reporting each other to police.
The Church has denied having such a policy, but it allegedly has its own court and justice role, called the International Justice Chief, to handle disputes internally.
After Mueller’s speech, former Scientology executive, Claire Headley, told The Ties that the alleged incidents sound similar to tactics allegedly used by the Church’s Office of Special Affairs.
Former members told the outlet that the Office manages all ‘legal and public affairs,’ and can include campaigns to ‘destroy’ and ‘silence’ critics.
Masterson’s victims have previously accused the Church of operating as a ‘criminal enterprise’ and engaging in a ‘a pattern of racketeering activity’ in violation of laws originally targeting Mafia activity.
The allegations came in a December 27 filing in Los Angeles Superior Court, as part of a proposed second amended complaint in a harassment lawsuit initially filed in 2019 by multiple Danny Masterson rape accusers.
They made sweeping claims about the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, who is named as a defendant in the suit, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.
‘While presenting itself outwardly as a respectable organization, Scientology’s criminal enterprise has implemented a policy of terrorizing victims (and witnesses) of its crimes—whether or not those victims (or witnesses) are Scientologists—into keeping Scientology’s crimes secret,’ the filing states.
In 2011, footage emerged of a group of Scientologist ‘squirrel busters’ who fitted cameras to their heads to ‘stalk’ one of its defectors.
A group of four men wearing skyblue t-shirts and black caps with the words ‘Squirrel busters productions’ turned up at a defector’s door and said they were there to look at his ‘PC meters’ – a piece of scientology equipment – and check his ‘tack’.
That 70’s Show star Danny Masterson has been moved from his maximum security prison to a less harsh facility in Obispo, California
Corcoran State Prison houses some of California’s most dangerous prisoners
Masterson’s new home, California Men’s colony, offers self-help and academic programs such as abuse counseling, mental health treatment and anger management
Records indicate that Masterson will first be eligible for parole in 2042, when the now-42-year-old is 66.
Following Masterson’s sentencing, it was reported that he was under round-the-clock surveillance due to potentially showing signs of ‘mental distress.’
Deputies would come by his cell every half hour to check on him ‘with the goal of keeping tabs on his mental state and making sure he’s safe.’
Masterson’s legal team is currently attempting to appeal his conviction.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo said in January that Masterson will ‘likely remain in custody for decades, and perhaps the rest of his life’ if his sentence is upheld on appeal.
The judge, who oversaw his trial and subsequently denied him bail, stated that he is a flight risk in part because his now-ex-wife Bijou Phillips filed for divorce following his guilty verdict last year.
In her filings, she revealed that she and Masterson had been living apart for five years.
A jury found the actor guilty last May for two rapes committed in 2003 and was hung on a third rape charge, which prosecutors have said that they will not push further for a conviction.
At the sentencing trial, Jane Doe 1 called Masterson a ‘true coward and heartless monster,’ adding that to this day she suffer from an extreme fear of the dark and frequently wakes up crying.
Sometimes, she said, she hides in a closet or screams out the window: ‘I’m not OK.’
‘I think life is an appropriate sentence,’ she said.
Masterson has been moved to a maximum-security facility that was the longtime holding place of Charles Manson
In addition to cult leader Charles Manson (pictured), Corcoran was also the prison where Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated RFK was held
Masterson was previously set to serve his term at Corcoran State Prison, which famously housed Charles Manson
The woman continued telling the room that she was born into a family of Scientologists, and when she reported the rape to the church, a top official ‘made it clear that Danny was untouchable.’
‘I did not choose to be born into Scientology – and I did not choose to be raped by Danny Masterson,’ said the mother of three daughters, fighting back tears. ‘Scientology attempted to silence us … to intimidate us.’
Of the two women whose rape Masterson was convicted of, Jane Doe 1 testified that in April 2003 she was at the actor’s house where he gave her a fruity red drink with vodka that made her feel woozy, then threw her in his Jacuzzi, carried her upstairs where she passed out and woke up to find him raping her
She fought back, pushed a pillow into his face, she told the jury. But he pushed it back into her face, smothering her and she blacked out again.
When she woke, she said, Masterson opened a bedside draw and pulled out a gun which he brandished, telling her, ‘Don’t f——ing move.’
Jane Doe 2 – whom the actor was also convicted of raping – met Masterson at a bar in 2003 and gave him her phone number. He called her and invited her to his home.
She went, and, after having a drink and a stint in his jacuzzi, she found herself in his bathroom shower with him where, she told jurors, he ‘suddenly shoved his penis into her vagina…. She said no, I told you no sex.’
Masterson blows his wife Bijou Phillips a kiss in the court room as he is sentenced to 30 years behind bars, seen in a court sketch
Masterson arrives at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, May 31, 2023, with wife Bijou Phillips for his trial
At sentencing, Jane Doe 2 said, ‘You are pathetic, disturbed and extremely violent, and the world is a safer place with you in prison.’
Jane Doe 3 – whom Masterson was charged with, but not convicted of, raping – lived with Masterson for six years. She was only 17 when she met him, and he persuaded her to become a Scientologist, she told the court.
About a year into their relationship, he became very ‘controlling… and very aggressive sexually’ – she would often wake up at night and he would be on top of her, having sex with her, she said.
In one such incident in November 2001, when she woke up to find him having sex with her, she told him no and tried to push him off, the court heard.
When that didn’t work, she pulled his hair. But he retaliated by hitting her across the face and calling her ‘white trash,’ she told the jury.
Masterson played wise-cracking Steven Hyde on That ’70s Show from 1998 to 2006
The former That 70s Show star agreed to give Phillips both legal and physical custody of the couple’s daughter as he serves time in jail
The Church of Scientology expelled Masterson following his conviction and declared him a ‘suppressive person’
Masterson’s lawyer remains defiant in the wake of the actor’s 30-year sentence for rape, telling the media that the legal fight is not over because his conviction is ‘not supported by evidence.’
His lawyer Shawn Holley told the media after the sentencing that a ‘a team of the top appellate lawyers in the country has been reviewing the transcripts of the trial.’
‘[They] have identified a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues which they will address in briefs to both state and federal appellate courts,’ she added.
Holley called the jury’s verdict ‘not supported by the evidence’ and that despite having the upmost respect for the judicial system ‘sometimes they get it wrong. And that’s what happened here.’
Holley said that her team was confident that Masterson’s conviction would be overturned on appeal.