Danny Masterson.Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters Pool/Splash News Online
The second ofDanny Masterson’s three accusers has delivered a testimony to the court about her alleged rape.
Masterson has pled not guilty to the charges of rape against him. The preliminary hearing is to determine whether there is probable cause for a trial.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the woman said that she and theThat 70s Showactor were five years into a relationship in November 2001 and were together in their shared home when she allegedly woke up to him raping her.
“I tried pushing him off me and saying no I don’t want to have sex with you,” the woman reportedly said. “He wouldn’t stop. So I did something that I knew would make him angry and likely to get off me. I pulled his hair. He has these rules, ‘no touch hair rule,’ ‘no touch face rule.’ He had this thing about his hair, so I knew if I pulled it really, really hard, he would get off me. But what he did was he hit me.”
The woman said in court that Masterson smacked her across the face with his fist. He then allegedly spit on her and called her “white trash,” the AP reported.
Danny Masterson.Lalo Yasky/Getty
The woman also said that in another incident (not cited in the charges) that occurred a month later, she allegedly blacked out, woke up in pain. She claimed she later learned from Masterson that he had raped her while she was unconscious, according to the AP.
After the alleged second rape, the woman reported the incident to the ethics officials at the Church of Scientology, which she joined in 1996 at the bequest of Masterson. However, the officials allegedly told her she was not raped and she did not report the incident to police until 15 years later, she said in court, per the AP.
According to the outlet, the Church of Scientology denied all of the women’s allegations.
The AP also reported that Masterson’s attorney, Thomas Mesereau, questioned the woman’s inconsistencies in her story at the hearing from when she first spoke to police and prosecutors about the alleged rape.
Mesereau did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Masterson wascharged last June with raping three womenin separate incidents occurring between 2001 and 2003. All of the alleged crimes occurred at Masterson’s home, prosecutors say.
Mastersonpleaded not guiltyto all three charges in January.
Mesereau entered the plea on behalf of Masterson, who was not present in court, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE at the time.
In October, a Los Angeles judge ruled that the actor’s casewould move forward. During that hearing, the judge rejected a defense argument that the case should be thrown out because the alleged rapes occurred outside the statute of limitations,Varietyreported at the time.
If found guilty, Masterson could face a possible maximum sentence of 45 years to life in state prison. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue for the next several days.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
source: people.com
