One former "Junior", Kauan Okamoto, told a press conference in April that he had been the target of Kitagawa's advances on as many as 20 occasions since he was 15. An opposition party put forward a bill, which failed to pass during the last session of parliament.
The first media reports of Kitagawa's abuses of boys and young men, known as Johnny's Juniors, were carried by local tabloid Shukan Bunshun in 1999, but the scandal blew wide open this year as more victims came forward after the BBC's report.Ī victims' group called for revisions to laws to protect children not only from abuse by a parent or guardian but other adults in positions of power. Major insurer Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (8766.T) also said it would consider terminating its contract with the agency. The agency's official confirmation of Kitagawa's conduct prompted Japan Airlines (9201.T) to announce that it would suspend the use of Johnny & Associates' talent in its advertisements. The agency had yet to work out how that would work. It's not like the emotional scars are gone but I think out of 100 points things have gotten a little easier by about 10."įujishima, who is the sole owner of the company, said she would stay on as representative director until the work of compensating the victims was complete. He was convicted on May 31.ĬNN’s Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.Yukihiro Ohshima, a member of the Johnny's Sexual Assault Victims' Association, said: "I think she acknowledged and sincerely apologised for what happened. News of the allegations date back to March 2017, when journalist and former Village Voice editor Tony Ortega wrote on his site “The Underground Bunker” that Masterson was being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.Ī previous version of this story stated Masterson was convicted in June. At the time, Masterson said he was “obviously very disappointed” by the decision in a statement to CNN. Kutcher and Masterson also starred in Netflix’s “The Ranch” beginning in 2016, but Netflix and the producers wrote Masterson off the show amid the rape allegations.
Masterson is best known for his role as Steven Hyde on “That ’70s Show,” which aired for eight seasons on Fox from 1998 to 2006, and co-starred Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, Topher Grace and Wilmer Valderrama. “One of my top priorities is to ensure that Los Angeles will no longer be a hunting ground for Hollywood elite who feel entitled to prey on women.” My hope is that this sentence will somehow bring them peace and that their bravery will be an example to others,” Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement to CNN. “I applaud their courage for coming forward and participating in this process.
#GAY BLACK PORM TRIAL#
The first trial began in October 2022, and a mistrial was declared the following month after the jury remained deadlocked, the District Attorney told CNN at the time.Īlison Anderson, the attorney representing two of the three accusers, told CNN in a statement on Thursday following the sentencing that her clients “have displayed tremendous strength and bravery, by coming forward to law enforcement and participating directly in two grueling criminal trials.” Masterson did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted and we and the appellate lawyers who are the best and the brightest in the country are confident that these convictions will be overturned.” “We are very disappointed in the sentence the judge handed down today,” said Holley, reading from a statement. Holley told reporters outside of the courthouse Thursday that they plan to appeal his rape convictions. Masterson was represented by defense lawyers Shawn Holley and Philip Cohen. The sentence on Thursday stems from the second trial in the case, which began on April 24 and went to the jury on May 17.
Following his initial arrest in 2020, Masterson had pleaded not guilty to raping three women at his home in separate incidents between 20.
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