Scott Bairstow Sentenced

Former Party of Five star gets four months in jail for sexual assault of a 12-year-old

By Lia Haberman Jan 20, 2004 8:30 PMTags

No cause for celebration here: Former Party of Five star Scott Bairstow was sentenced to four months in jail Friday for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl.

Bairstow, 33, entered a modified guilty plea last month to reduce the charge from second-degree child rape.

With the plea, Bairstow avoided admitting guilt but conceded that if the case went to trial, he would likely be convicted.

"I did not rape her. But I believe I've caused some stress and obviously anxiety, and for that I am sorry," the actor said at his court hearing.

Authorities said they were likely to take into account Bairstow's time already served and good behavior. He's been in Washington's Snohomish County Jail since December 5 and is expected to be released in just over a month.

Prosecutors had pushed for six months in the slammer. The defense team had hoped for three months.

The father of two has also been ordered to undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation and will be under supervision for a year after his release.

Bairstow was busted on the child-rape charge last May after the girl, now 17, came forward to authorities. He allegedly started having sex with said girl, one of his ex-wife's relatives, in 1998 when she was just 12 years old and continued through 2001.

According to prosecutors, Bairstow repeatedly told the girl he would lose everything if she told anyone about the illicit relationship. Police captured some of those comments during a wire-tapped telephone conversation when he contacted the girl in 2003 to ask for phone sex.

During one conversation quoted in court papers, the girl said she was thinking about telling someone about Bairstow. The actor is quoted as saying, "Well...I'm a dad and I've got a job, and if you were to tell anyone I would be thrown in jail for 10 years."

Along with playing Neve Campbell's abusive boyfriend Ned on PO5, Bairstow's credits include the Disney kid flick Tuck Everlasting and TV stints in Lonesome Dove and the short-lived sci-fi series Wolf Lake and Harsh Realm. However, the acting gigs have slowed to a halt since the assault case surfaced.