Scientology Takes the Hot Seat During Danny Masterson’s Rape Case as 3 Women Claim Church Tried to Silence Them

Scientology has found itself in hot water amid That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson’s rape case, as three women claimed church officials attempted to stop them from reporting the alleged assaults to the police.

“The activities of Scientology have been so much a part of the evidence that’s being put forth as to why these women were not immediately going to law enforcement … that it’s sort of brought the dirty laundry out into public view, which is exactly what Scientology does not want to have happen,” said Mike Rinder, the church’s former top spokesman, who left in 2007, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Masterson, who is a member of the church, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and still has the support of Scientology officials — with top spokeswoman Karin Pouw telling the Times that the allegations are “nothing more than a money shakedown.”

Despite the denial, Masterson will face trial on three counts of rape, as Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo ruled that the accusers provided substantial evidence during the four-day preliminary hearing.

Olmedo also concluded, according to the Times, that “Scientology has ‘an expressly written doctrine’ that ‘not only discourages, but prohibits’ its members from reporting one another to law enforcement.”

The judge determined that the church’s policy is largely responsible for why the women stayed silent regarding Masterson’s alleged crimes for more than a decade.

Three women who took the stand last week, recounting the alleged assaults, all claimed that church officials attempted to stop them from reporting Masterson to the police.

“One woman testified that a church official instructed her to write a statement showing she would ‘take responsibility’ for a 2001 assault, in which she alleges Masterson raped her while she was unconscious,” wrote Times reporters James Queally and Matthew Ormseth.

A second woman reportedly attempted to come forward in 2004, alleging that Masterson raped her in his Hollywood home, yet a Scientology attorney came to her family’s home and said the church would expel her if she were to go to the police.

The woman, who was born into Scientology, also claimed the attorney told her father, “We’re going to work out how you can not lose your daughter.”

Another woman reportedly testified that she wrote to an “International Justice Chief,” who handles altercations between church members, and asked for permission to sue and report Masterson.

The church denied preventing any members from coming forward in a statement to the Times, Pouw claiming that “Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land, including the reporting of crimes. This is blatantly clear in the documents we understand were put before the Court — and many others.”

“The Court either did not read them in full or ignored them,” she added, noting that the church is not on trial. “It should have done neither. Interpretation of Church doctrine by the courts is prohibited and the ruling is evidence of why.”

Rinder, however, contested that claim in a testimony delivered last week, saying that members know that contacting law enforcement could lead to excommunication, explaining why they often stay silent.