Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for two rapes - Scientology, ritualistic child sex abuse investigation

 

Danny Masterson sentenced to 30 years to life for two rapes By Regan Morris in Los Angeles and Max Matza BBC News September 7, 2023

US actor Danny Masterson has been sentenced to serve 30 years to life in prison for raping two women. Masterson starred on That ’70s Show, a TV series that was airing at the time of his crimes in the early 2000s. Prosecutors argued Masterson, 47, had relied on his status as a prominent Scientologist to avoid accountability. Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowed the victims of his crimes to read impact statements in court ahead of his sentencing. Prominent former Scientologist and actress Leah Remini attended Thursday’s hearing and comforted the women before and after they delivered their statements….The actor was convicted after three women testified that he had sexually assaulted them at his Hollywood home from 2001-03 – during the height of his television fame.

The jury heard testimony that he had given them drugs before he assaulted them. He was found guilty of rape against two of his three accusers. The charges brought by the third accuser were declared a mistrial and prosecutors said they do not plan to retry the case. Alison Anderson, a lawyer representing two of the victims, said in a statement sent to BBC News that the women “have displayed tremendous strength and bravery, by coming forward to law enforcement and participating directly in two gruelling criminal trials”.
“Despite persistent harassment, obstruction and intimidation, these courageous women helped hold a ruthless sexual predator accountable today,” she said. Throughout the trial, prosecutors argued that the Church of Scientology had helped cover up the assaults – an allegation the organisation has categorically denied. At the time of the attacks, Masterson and all three of his accusers were Scientologists. Several of the women said it took them years to come forward because Church of Scientology officials discouraged them from reporting the rape to police.

Scientology officials told one survivor she would lose her membership of the community unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement and accepted a payment of $400,000 (£320,000), according to prosecutors. During the trial, Judge Olmedo allowed both sides to discuss the dogma and practices of Scientology, angering the organisation….
In court on Thursday, one woman described being shunned by her mother, who is still a practising Scientologist. “She texted me and told me to never contact her again,” she said, reported the LA Times. “She had warned me ahead of time she wanted to see Danny Masterson locked away for what he’d done to me, but not at the expense of her religion.” Another woman said she had been victimised by the Church of Scientology ever since she spoke out. “Since the week I came forward to police I have been terrorised, harassed and had my privacy invaded daily by the cult of Scientology for almost seven years now,” she said, adding: “But I don’t regret it.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66744480

Ex-wife of former Utah County therapist arrested in connection to ritualistic child sex abuse case Aug 9, 2023 BY MICHAEL HOUCK KSLTV.com

UTAH COUNTY, Utah — The wife of a former Utah County therapist accused of sexually abusing young patients for decades was arrested on Wednesday. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office said Roselle “Rosie” Anderson Stevenson, 70, of Provo, was arrested for the first-degree felony of sodomy on a child. The sheriff’s office said the incident happened in Spring City, Utah, around 1994. The victim was a girl under the age of 13 years old. “This case is directly related to charges that were previously filed against David Hamblin in September of 2022,” the sheriff’s office release stated. According to the sheriff’s office, a judge ordered Stevenson to be held without bail.

Ritualistic Child Sex Abuse Investigation
In September 2022, Hamblin was arrested for multiple felony charges of rape and sexual abuse of a child as the Utah County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a ritualistic child sex abuse case. Detectives with the UCSO Special Victims Unit said the alleged crimes and sex trafficking occurred between 1990 and 2010 in Utah, Juab, and Sanpete Counties. Their investigation began in April 2021 and “discovered that other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking,” according to a previous press release.
https://ksltv.com/575904/ex-wife-of-former-utah-county-therapist-arrested-in-connection-to-ritualistic-child-sex-abuse-case/

Suspect arrested in connection to ritualistic child sex abuse investigation Sep 28, 2022 BY JOSH ELLIS AND LARRY D. CURTIS, KSL TV KSLTV.com

SPANISH FORK, Utah — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced a suspect has been arrested in connection with a ritualistic child sex abuse investigation.
UCSO Sgt. Spencer Cannon said 68-year-old David Hamblin, of Provo, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Utah County Jail on six first-degree felony sexual offenses against a child. Cannon postponed, perhaps indefinitely, a 3 p.m. Wednesday press briefing but did provide a press release. It said Hamblin, was booked on suspicion of:

Three counts of sodomy of a child, a first-degree felony
Rape of a child, a first-degree felony
Two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first degree felony
Lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor

At the time the press release was issued, a judge had not yet set bail and the probable cause court document had not yet been approved for release. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced its investigation on June 1. Detectives with the UCSO Special Victims Unit say the alleged crimes and sex trafficking took place between 1990 and 2010 in Utah, Juab and Sanpete counties. Their investigation began in April 2021 and “discovered that other victims had previously reported similar forms of ritualistic sexual abuse and trafficking.” No suspects had previously been named by authorities. Utah County Attorney David Leavitt, who was vying for re-election at the time, was the one to confirm he’s named in a victim statement contained in hundreds of pages of police investigative reports he said are tied to the investigation….
Leavitt provided copies of a 151-page document labeled as a “victim statement” that describes the alleged crimes in detail. The statement names Leavitt and more than a dozen others as part of a group that practiced ritual sexual abuse of children. https://ksltv.com/507134/suspect-arrested-in-connection-to-ritualistic-child-sex-abuse-investigation/

Roselle “Rosie” Stevenson Arrested For Sodomy on a Child Charge
08/09/2023 Rosie Stevenson was arrested today and booked into jail on one count of sodomy on a child for an incident that happened 30 years ago.
Roselle “Rosie” Anderson Stevenson, age 70, of Provo, was arrested today on one count of sodomy on a child, a first degree felony, for an offense against a girl under age 13. The incident occurred in Spring City, Utah in or around the year 1994. This case is directly related to charges that were previously filed against David Hamblin in September of 2022. These cases are part of an ongoing investigation involving sexual abuse of children that occurred in Utah, Juab, and Sanpete Counties in the 1980’s and 1990’s. A Judge has ordered that Stevenson be held without bail. https://sheriff.utahcounty.gov/media/sheriffNewsDetails?ID=245943

Disturbing Details Emerge as Former Psychologist Charged with ‘Ritualistic Sexual Abuse’ of Children Jerry Lambe Sep 30th, 2022 A 68-year-old former psychologist in Utah is behind bars this week after being accused of “ritualistic sexual abuse and child sex trafficking” that is alleged to have gone on for decades.
David Lee Hamblin was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with a spate of first-degree felonies, including one count of rape of a child, three counts of sodomy on a child, and two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Hamblin was also charged with one misdemeanor count of lewdness involving a child. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, a female victim in April 2022 reported to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office that she had been “repeatedly sexually assaulted” by Hamblin for years, beginning in the mid ’80s, when she was approximately 6 or 7. The victim grew up in the same Provo neighborhood where Hamblin resided and told police that she regularly played with Hamblin’s children and “had been babysat on numerous occasions by David,” per the affidavit.

The victim told police that the first assault she could remember occurred when she and two other children were in the basement of Hamblin’s home, documents say….
Investigators said they interviewed the two other children present during the alleged assault and said that both “corroborated what the victim has disclosed.”
The victim told investigators that the second alleged sexual assault she could remember took place when she was approximately 7 or 8, noting that it was just prior to her baptism, per the affidavit. The assault allegedly took place at Hamblin’s
residence….
The affidavit further notes that Hamblin was a therapist whose license was revoked by the state “due to allegations that he was sexually abusing his client(s).”
https://lawandcrime.com/crime/ disturbing-details-emerge-as-former-psychologist-charged-with-ritualistic-sexual-abuse-of-children/