ACTOR ENTERS GUILTY PLEA

Actor Scott Bairstow, 33, accused of raping a 12 year old girl, pleaded guilty Friday in Everett, Washington, to a reduced charge of second-degree assault.  In the modified guilty plea, he maintained he was innocent, but conceded he would likely be convicted if the case went to trial.  He is scheduled to be sentenced January 16.  The charge carries a standard sentencing range of 3 to 9 months.  The girl was a relative of Bairstow's wife.  The girl told authorities she had sex with him in Snohomish County, Washington, in 1998, when she was 12, and three more times outside Washington state, most recently in 2001.  Bairstow appeared on Fox's Party of Five in 1998 and 1999 and in the movie Tuck Everlasting.

(Washington)