Actor-director Timothy Busfield, husband of actress Melissa Gilbert, accused of child sex abuse
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US actor Timothy Busfield turned himself in to authorities in New Mexico on January 13, 2024, to face allegations of child sex abuse.
PHOTO: AFP
John Yoon
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NEW MEXICO – A judge in New Mexico on Jan 9 issued a warrant for the arrest of Timothy Busfield, an American actor and director, on charges of child sex abuse
The warrant, signed by a Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court judge in Albuquerque, approved the arrest of Busfield, 68, court records show. He was not in custody as at the night of Jan 9, said Detective Chase Jewell, a spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department.
Busfield was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse after two child actors said he had touched them inappropriately over a period of years, a police affidavit said.
The boys, who are both 11 and related, were part of the crime drama The Cleaning Lady (2022 to 2025), for which Busfield was an executive producer and an actor. One of the boys said Busfield had touched his genitals starting when he was seven, according to the affidavit.
Busfield’s lawyer and agents did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Jan 10, nor did representatives at Warner Bros., which produced the show.
Busfield won an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his performance in Thirtysomething, which aired for four years on ABC beginning in 1987. Busfield, who is married to American actress Melissa Gilbert, is also known for his portrayal of a journalist on political drama The West Wing (1999 to 2006).
The police investigation into Busfield began in 2024 after officers responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital, where staff members requested a sexual abuse investigation.
One of the boys told a therapist, a paediatrician and a forensic interviewer that Busfield had entered the bedroom on the television set and touched his penis and buttocks over his clothing, the affidavit said.
In October, the boys’ mother reported to child protective services that both children said Busfield had touched them between late 2022 and early 2024, according to the affidavit.
It added that Busfield acknowledged to the police in a phone interview that he probably tickled the boys, describing the set as a “playful environment”. He suggested that the allegations were a form of revenge by the boys’ mother after the children were terminated from the show, the affidavit said. NYTIMES
