Christina B., the second accuser in the Danny Masterson rape trial, completed her testimony on Thursday, alleging that she has been subjected to a “terror campaign” by the Church of Scientology.
The woman, who testified across three days, was asked by prosecutor Reinhold Mueller why she had filed a civil suit against Masterson and the church in 2019.
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“It’s related to the terror campaign that this criminal organization has put upon me and my family,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how many police reports or FBI reports I would file. No one would stop them — no one. And they’re doing it to this day.”
Karin Pouw, the spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology, said in an email that the allegations are “categorically untrue.”
“Media reports show that the District Attorney is shamefully centering his prosecution on the defendant’s religion,” Pouw said. “Inserting religion into this trial appears to be an attempt by the DA to divert attention from the relevant facts, whatever they may be.”
Christina B. has alleged that Masterson raped her while she was sleeping in November 2001, toward the end of a six-year relationship. She told the jury that she woke up and tried to push him away, and that he hit her in the face, then spit on her and called her “white trash.”
Masterson, an active Scientologist, faces three charges of forcible rape. The accusers are all former Scientologists who claim they have been targeted for stalking and intimidation in retaliation for coming forward. The trial began last week with testimony from Jane Doe #1. The third accuser, who goes by Jane Doe #2, has yet to testify.
Christina B. appeared nervous and scared throughout her testimony, and appeared to experience a panic attack on Tuesday when describing the consequences of being declared a “suppressive person” by the church.
But she gave precise answers to questions under cross-examination, sometimes seeking to clarify the question before answering. Defense attorney Philip Cohen spent more than a day asking her about accounts she had given to investigators, to Mueller, and in her preliminary hearing testimony.
Asked why some details were in some versions but not others, she would say that she had answered everything she was asked.
“I had never been interviewed by a detective before and I was terrified,” she said at one point. “I just remember answering their questions honestly.”
Christina B. has said that in addition to the alleged rape, Masterson allegedly had anal sex with her when she was unconscious in December 2001. She said she blacked out after taking one drink at a restaurant and had no knowledge of the incident until Masterson told her the next morning.
On Thursday, she said that despite the sexual assaults, she loved Masterson.
“I have never denied that,” she said.
But she also said that their sexual relationship was never loving.
“It was very rough and forceful,” she said. “At the time I didn’t have much to compare what a healthy relationship would be like…. A lot of times it would happen, where I would be asleep and wake up to him having sex with me… That was normal.”
During a break, Judge Charlaine Olmedo advised Cohen that questions about the nature of their sexual relationship were irrelevant. Cohen argued that the testimony about what Masterson’s “style of sex was” might help undermine the claim that he intended to commit rape.
“I think at this point the questions are more prurient than they are relevant to the dynamics of the relationship,” Olmedo said.
The testimony will continue on Friday.
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