The LATimes broke the story overnight:

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff.

Shriver moved out of the family’s Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.

“After leaving the governor’s office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago,” Schwarzenegger said Monday night in a statement issued to The Times in response to questions. “I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.

“I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time,” the statement concluded. “While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not. ”

A spokesman for the former first lady said she had no comment.

An alleged former Schwarzenegger mistress says there were so many others:

Gigi Goyette says she met Schwarzenegger in 1975, when she was a 16-year-old child actress on Little House On The Prairie. Yes. You read that properly. Schwarzenegger was about 28 at the time. Goyette and Schwarzenegger had sex that year, but she didn’t see him again until 1989, and then they started an affair. At that point, Schwarzenegger had been married for three years…. While her affair with Schwarzenegger only lasted a few years, she says: “There were so many other women. About 13 have come out of the woodwork.”

So the coda to his failed political career is a sex scandal; the revelation of a lie he maintained for a decade. Such things are less costly to the career of a movie star. Schwarzenegger signed deals for 3 movies this month.