Law&Crime Sidebar - Allegations of Forced Abortion in Scientology Revealed Ahead of Danny Masterson's Rape Trial

Episode Date: October 11, 2022

New revelations about scientology are coming out in actor Danny Masterson’s rape trial, including an allegation of forced abortions. Journalist Tony Ortega comes on to discuss what he's learned so far after sitting in that L.A. courtroom.GUEST:Tony Ortega: https://tonyortega.org/LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael Deininger & Logan HarrisGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Tune into Prime Crime Friday, October 14th at 8 p.m. Eastern on the Long Crime Network. Your attorneys may appear in court on your behalf of the being present. Yes, sir. New revelations about Scientology are coming out, and actor Danny Masterson's rape trial including an allegation of forced abortions. We speak with journalist Tony Ortega, who is in the courtroom. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

Actor Danny Masterson's sex crimes trial has officially begun out in Los Angeles. The That 70s show actor is facing three charges of forcible rape with respect to three women who were former members of the Church of Scientology. This allegedly happened between 2001 and 2003. He faces a lengthy prison sentence, if convicted, up to 45 years behind bars. And it's a really interesting case to follow since Masterson is a longtime member of the Church of Scientology.

And one of the questions that we've had is how much are we going to learn about the organization's inner workings during the course of this trial? Well, apparently, maybe something. Maybe we might be getting some inner workings. Because let me tell you, I want to bring in right now journalist Tony Ortega, who's been following this case. He's been a frequent contributor on the Danny Masterson story here on Sidebar. He is the founder of the underground bunker where he writes about Scientology.

related stories. You can find him at Tony Ortega.substack.com. And right now he is outside of that L.A. courthouse. He is our unofficial sidebar reporter. Tony, it's good to see you. My understanding is you were in court yesterday. You were in court today. And before we came on, you would talk to me about this kind of big revelation that happened in court. And out of all people to bring this up, it was Masterson's attorney. Can you talk about it? One of the things we've been looking at, Jesse, is how much Scientology is going to be in the trial. And we based that. There was a preliminary hearing last year. And Scientology ended up being a big part of that preliminary hearing. And the reason is that these three women say they didn't come forward sooner because they feared retaliation from the church.

They were members of Scientology when these incidents occurred. They're not Scientologists today. So Danny's new set of attorneys, I think they're aware of how much Scientology was a part of the prelim and they realize that that was a mistake. And they're trying to limit it in the trial. And yesterday, one of his attorneys, Karen L. Goldstein, asked the judge to have a longer questionnaire to get into these details. And she said, great line. He said, this trial is going to be a perfect storm of prejudice from three sources, the public scathing attitudes towards Scientology, the pretrial publicity, and the heinous allegations. And she went into some detail about the public's attitudes towards Scientology, Jesse, and she actually said that they worried that jurors are going to come into this case,

and all they know about Scientology is that they force abortions. Wow. You know, I mean, listen, there's several of us journalists in recent years that have highlighted that, that this is one of the controversies Scientology has, that it has a policy of no children in the Sea Org, and women have come out and claimed that they were... coerced and forced to have abortions. This has been a feature of news stories, but to hear an attorney in a criminal trial saying

that this is the problem that the public even knows about it, I just thought it was a remarkable moment. Wait, wait, let's just dive into that for a second. So let's clarify that. Number one, has the Church of Scientology, and forgive me that, I don't know this, but I feel like a lot of our viewers and listeners might not know this as well. Has the Church of Scientology taken an official position on forced abortions? Is this something that's been a rumor?

Is this something that's come out based on people who have left the organization and said this is something that they have been a part of? Because to say that, I'm curious if Danny Masterson's attorney is saying, like, forced abortions, it's one of the rumors that is out there about the Church of Scientology, or is she accepting that and saying, no, this is really what happens. And, you know, we're looking at it and people have a negative view of it. Danny's attorney is not saying she accepts it. Danny's attorney is saying that that's what the public has heard.

And the reason the public has heard that is thanks for. a journalist named Tom Tobin at the Tampa Bay Times, who wrote an incredible story 10 years ago called Kids Not Allowed, might have been children not allowed, featured three brave women, Claire Hadley, Sonny Pereira, and Lord Tricenzo, who came out of Scientology to reveal that this has been going on for decades, that, you're not supposed to have children when you're in the Seorg, so when women get pregnant in the Seorg, they are forced to have abortions. We even have testimony from two men whose job it was to talk them in. to that. So this is a well-established fact. Of course, Scientology denies it. Scientology denies everything, Jesse, you know that. But there's been very good reporting on this for 10 years now.

And so that's what this attorney is saying and saying that, you know, we can't get a fair jury because people have heard that. And, you know, my reaction is, well, if Scientology doesn't want people to know that, then they should stop doing it. I guess the question becomes, as we listen to this, right? Let's first start, how, based on what you're seeing this week, do you feel the Scientology conversation, the Scientology subject is going to be playing a significant role in this trial? How much are we really going to learn about Scientology as it progresses? We talked a little bit about it on our previous sidebar, but if there's anything you can amplify about it, I mean, what are we going to learn about the organization that maybe a lot of us didn't

know? Well, Judge O'Mado has made it clear. She's only allowing in testimony about Scientology because it helps explain why these women didn't come forward sooner. So they're going to to be able to testify about the fact that Scientologists are told you cannot turn in a fellow Scientologist to civil authorities, which includes police. And they know that they'd be in big trouble if they did so. And this is what made them wait so long. Because, you know, the public, the jury, they're naturally going to wonder, why is Danny Masterson on trial in 2022 for something he supposedly did in 2001 and 2003? And that's a big question. And that's why the judge, is allowing that testimony about Scientology.

But she's not going to allow a real examination of what Scientology's beliefs are or anything like that. They're just going to focus on those policies about not turning into fellow Scientologists. So, you know, it's still very bad for the Church of Scientology, but this is not going to probe like the inner workings or how it's run or anything about David Muscavage. That won't be a part of this trial. You're talking about Danny Masterson.

You're in the courtroom. You see him. Does he bring anybody along with him? Does he appear nervous? What can you tell us about Masterson? He didn't look nervous at all. He was sharply dressed as usual. And when we first got in there, because they were bringing in so many potential jurors,

they really limited seating. I was the only reporter allowed in there initially. And I don't think Danny had anyone with him initially. But then later, when the potential jurors moved out, more people came in the room. Some reporters came in. And Danny's good friend came in the room. I recognized him. It's a tall guy named Chris Wadams, and he's interesting because he's such a close friend to Danny and his wife.

He's the donor of the kidney that Bajou Phillips received. You know, she was very sick and she needed a new kidney. So that's who went with Danny, you know, a very close friend there to, you know, give him support. I thought that was interesting. And Danny didn't seem nervous at all. You know, he's, you know, he's, I guess he's ready for this thing. Did he say anything? Just when the jurors were introduced to the.

the parties. And his attorney, Philip Cohen, introduced the defense and said, I, you know, I'm Bill Cohen. This is my co-counsel. And this is the accused, Mr. Masterson. Danny then looked at the jurors and said, morning, everyone. So, you know, I mean, he's, he's, he's called. All right. Well, we'll see if he stays calm when the trial begins. And we're going to see the presentation of evidence. Tony, I think it's great that you're in there. I think there should be more attention to this case. And I'm happy that you're bringing a spotlight to it. And we'll see which way it ultimately unfolds. Because these cases, you really can't predict which way it's going to fall down. But Tony Ortega, thanks so much. And Tony, tell everybody where they can find you

and learn a little bit more about this. Come on by tonyortega.com. I've got daily reports not only about this case, but other cases we're following. All right. Tony Ortega, thank you so much. And thanks so much, everybody, for joining us once again here on Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this Law and Crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.