That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson is under investigation for the alleged sexual assaults of three women, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday. 
 
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 In a statement, the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, Sexual Assault section confirmed that are "conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson. Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000s." 
 
 Authorities did not provide any further details regarding the alleged assaults. 
 
 Masterson's representatives called the allegations "false" in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, adding that the accusations dated back 14 to 16 years ago. The rep also blamed actress Leah Remini for the resurfacing of the allegations; both Masterson and Remini were Scientologists before the actress' high-profile exit from the church. 
 
 
 
 One of the accusers is an ex-girlfriend of the actor, and the incident allegedly "occurred in the middle of their six-year relationship, after which she continued to be his longtime girlfriend," Masterson's reps said. 
 
 "We are aware of [the alleged victim's] 16-year-old allegations. It was only after [the alleged victim] was in contact with Leah Remini that she made allegations of sexual assault by Mr. Masterson," the actor's reps continued. 
 
 Another alleged victim accused Masterson of sexually assaulting her during a party at the actor's house in 2003. 
 
 Police revealed their investigation into Masterson's sexual assault allegations hours after Tony Ortega's Scientology watchdog site Underground Bunker posted about the incidents and a subsequent, "bungled" LAPD investigation involving Masterson in the early 2000s. 
 
 The site also alluded to a Church of Scientology cover-up, with witnesses and even victims pressured into remaining quiet or providing contradictory testimony. The LAPD did not comment on those accusations. 
 
 Remini now appears on the A&E series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which in part empowered one of the victims to come forward, the Underground Bunker writes. 
 
 ||||| This investigation was purportedly spearheaded by Leah Remini in connection with her A&E; show on Scientology. 
 
 Los Angeles police are probing allegations of sexual assault against That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson, authorities told The Hollywood Reporter Friday. There is also a report of a possible cover-up by the Church of Scientology, but police did not address that in their statement. 
 
 "The Los Angeles Police Department Robbery Homicide Division, Sexual Assault Section, is conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson. Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000's," read a statement from LAPD's robbery-homicide division. 
 
 The 40-year-old Masterson played Steven Hyde on That '70s Show, which ran from 1998 to 2006. He currently stars alongside his '70s Show castmate Ashton Kutcher in the Netflix series The Ranch. Masterson is married to model and singer Bijou Phillips. 
 
 A rep for Masterson responded with this statement to THR: 
 
 We are aware of [the alleged victim's] 16-year-old allegations. It was only after [the alleged victim] was in contact with Leah Remini that she made allegations of sexual assault by Mr. Masterson. The alleged incident occurred in the middle of their 6 year relationship, after which she continued to be his longtime girlfriend. Significantly, during their long relationship she made numerous inconsistent claims that she was previously raped by at least 3 other famous actors and musicians. 
 
 When Danny ended the relationship she continued to pursue him, even making threats to beat up his current wife Bijou Phillips unless she left him. In fact, we are informed by the Church that the only demand [the alleged victim] made of the Church after Danny broke up with her was asking for their help to intervene so the breakup would not be permanent. 
 
 We are aware also that approximately 14 years ago a woman referred to in the blog made allegations of sexual assault that the LADP interviewed numerous witnesses and determined the claim had no merit. Based on reading the anti-Scientology blog that posted this story, these false allegations appear to be motivated to boost Leah Remini’s anti-Scientology television series since [the alleged victim] only came forward after connecting with Leah Remini. 
 
 The investigation was first reported by Tony Ortega, a former Village Voice editor, author and longtime reporter on the inner workings of Scientology who currently runs a news site titled The Underground Bunker. 
 
 Ortega cited portions of photocopied police reports in his piece. Actress Leah Remini, an outspoken former Scientologist, recently said on her A&E series, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, that the church would go to great lengths to protect its celebrity members. And according to Ortega, that series is the reason alleged victims began pointing a finger at Masterson. 
 
 Neither the Church of Scientology nor Remini immediately responded to a request for comment. 
 
 March 3, 12:05 p.m. This story has been updated with a statement from Masterson's rep. ||||| LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - “That 70s Show” actor Danny Masterson is being investigated for alleged sexual assault of three women, Los Angeles police said on Friday. 
 
 Actor Danny Masterson arrives at Warner Bros. Pictures' "Gangster Squad" premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn 
 
 But Masterson, 40, said the claims were false and dated back more than 10 years. 
 
 The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that its homicide and sexual assault section was “conducting an investigation involving the actor Danny Masterson. Three women have come forward and disclosed that they were sexually assaulted by Masterson during the early 2000s.” 
 
 The statement gave no details. 
 
 Masterson started his career as a child model and actor and got his break-out role in the 1998-2006 Fox television comedy series “That 70s Show,” in which he played rebel adolescent Steven Hyde. 
 
 He is currently appearing in the Netflix comedy “The Ranch” and has been married to actress Bijou Phillips since 2011. 
 
 Masterson’s representatives said in a statement they were aware of the allegations, which dated back 16 and 14 years. 
 
 One involved a former girlfriend of Masterson. “The alleged incident occurred in the middle of their six-year relationship, after which she continued to be his (Masterson’s) longtime girlfriend,” the statement said. 
 
 Another woman made allegations against Masterson about 14 years ago, and police “interviewed numerous witnesses and determined the claim had no merit,” the statement said. 
 
 “These (are) false allegations,” it added.
– Police announced Friday they're investigating sexual assault allegations against Danny Masterson, and there are reports of a Church of Scientology cover-up. Three women say the That 70s Show actor assaulted them during the early 2000s, Reuters reports. According to the Hollywood Reporter, an anti-Scientology website claims at least one of the victims came forward with the allegations after being inspired by actress Leah Remini's TV show Scientology and the Aftermath. The site accuses the Church of Scientology of pressuring witnesses and victims in order to cover-up the assaults when they happened, Rolling Stone reports. It also says the LAPD "bungled" an initial investigation into one of the assaults. One of the assault allegations comes from Masterson's ex-girlfriend. Another comes from a woman who says she was assaulted by the actor during a party at his house. Masterson, who is a Scientologist, and his representatives say the allegations against him are false. His reps say Masterson's former girlfriend continued to date him after the alleged abuse and police already investigated another allegation and found nothing. Masterson is currently starring in The Ranch on Netflix.