Actor Danny Masterson has now been ordered to stand trial on charges of rape. This is per Variety, which reports that the That ’70s Show and The Ranch actor, who was charged with three counts of rape last year, has now been ordered by Los Angeles Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo to stand trial, after a pre-trial determined that prosecution had enough evidence to move forward on its accusations.
The charges against Masterson first came to light in 2017, when four women filed sexual assault allegations against him. (He, and the Church of Scientology, were also later sued by several people on allegations that the Church had run a harassment campaign to silence their accusations against Masterson, a prominent member of the organization; that civil suit is reportedly still ongoing.) Charges were formally filed last year, when Masterson was charged with three counts of rape, stemming from incidents that took place in 2001, early 2003, and late 2003. The charges were reportedly the result of a three-year investigation that began shortly after the initial accusations against the actor, who was subsequently fired from his job on Netflix’s The Ranch, came to light.
Among the evidence presented at the pre-trial, Variety notes that all three women in question testified, describing the events of the alleged assaults, including an accusation that Masterson threatened one of the women with a gun after the assault. Masterson has pleaded not guilty on all the charges.