Plea deal in arson at ‘ Doubtfire’ house

A transgender woman accused of trying to torch the iconic San Francisco house used in the film “Mrs. Doubtfire” after claiming the homeowner botched her facial feminization surgery has pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors.

Tyqwon Welch, 25, pleaded guilty May 14 in San Francisco Superior Court to two counts of arson of an inhabited structure and one count of possession of an incendiary device. Prosecutors said they dropped an attempted murder charge due to insufficient evidence in connection with the Jan. 5 fire.

Welch — who had faced a possible life term — will be sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation, will be ordered to stay away from two doctors with whom she has quarreled, and must register as an arson offender, the district attorney’s office said. Formal sentencing is scheduled for June 4.

“The Police Department, the Fire Department, the victim and the D. A. are all in agreement that this is an appropriate disposition, given the nature of the offenses,” said Max Szabo, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

In a jailhouse interview with The Chronicle last month, Welch admitted she confronted the victim, 79- year old Douglas Ousterhout, at the home on the corner of Broadway and Steiner streets in Pacific Heights.

She tracked him to the home after she saw him being interviewed by reporters after the August suicide of Robin Williams. The home became a memorial for the actor because it was prominently featured in the 1993 hit “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

In the movie, Williams’ character plays a divorcing father who dresses up as a female housekeeper and nanny so he can care for his children in his ex- wife’s home.

Welch said Ousterhout, a leading doctor in facial feminization surgery for transgender patients, had botched her surgeries that included a forehead contour, rhinoplasty and chin feminization.

Welch, a Los Angeles native who uses the online pseudonym Honey Dip Ashton, came by the doctor’s home to haggle with him about getting back the $ 45,000 she spent on the surgeries that she said “destroyed my face and my faith.”

After a brief confrontation on his doorstep, Welch left, but the doctor told police that an hour later he smelled gasoline and found his doormat on fire. He later found charring along the base of his garage door.

Officers arrested Welch two days later at an Extended Stay America hotel in San Jose, where she was staying with a man she had met on a party telephone line.

Welch told The Chronicle she was innocent and didn’t light the fires because she respects Robin Williams and “grew up on his films.”