Actor and director Timothy Busfield, husband of actress Melissa Gilbert, was charged Friday with child sexual abuse.
Timothy Busfield granted release in child sex abuse case
A New Mexico judge has ruled that “West Wing” actor Timothy Busfield is not a danger to the community and can fight the charges without being sent to jail.
scripps news
A New Mexico grand jury indicted actor Timothy Busfield on Friday on four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said.
The Feb. 6 indictment comes weeks after the 68-year-old “West Wing” actor was arrested on sexual abuse charges that occurred while filming the TV series “Cleaning Women.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Busfield’s attorney for comment.
Prosecutors say Busfield is accused of abusing the two actors, who were 7 and 8 years old at the time, while working on the series between late 2022 and early 2024. Busfield also served as the program’s director. He denies any wrongdoing.
Busfield’s indictment comes shortly after he was removed from an upcoming episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
Busfield, who had previously been cast in a guest role, was replaced this week by “Dexter” star David Zayas, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to USA TODAY. Zayas will play Busfield in Season 27 of SVU, which follows a detective investigating sex crimes.
Timothy Busfield suspect
The actor accused of inappropriate physical contact with two child actors has pleaded not guilty and said the allegations were an act of retaliation for the boys’ return to the show.
Mr. Busfield turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday, January 13th. TMZ obtained footage of Busfield speaking at his attorney’s office in Albuquerque before he was taken into custody.
“I’m going to stand up to these lies. They’re terrible,” he said in the video. “Those are all lies. I didn’t do anything to those little kids. And I’m going to fight it. … So, good luck. I hope you get out soon.”
Busfield, who has appeared in court several times wearing an orange prison uniform, has been supported by his wife, Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert.
What is Timothy Busfield accused of?
Busfield’s abuse of the child actor is said to have occurred between late 2022 and early 2024. One child claimed that Busfield touched her genitals several times. Both claim Mr. Busfield touched them inappropriately and told them to call them “Uncle Tim.”
The child’s mother reported the incident to Child Protective Services, according to the criminal complaint. One of the children has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety and is afraid to go public with the allegations of abuse because of retaliation from Bassfield, according to the complaint. In 2024, staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital requested an investigation because the boys appeared to have been groomed.
Busfield admitted in a phone interview with police that the set was a “playful environment” and that he likely tickled the boys, according to the affidavit. Production assistants told Albuquerque police that Busfield sometimes seemed nervous and unprofessional.
In the new charges, a pretrial detention motion filed on Jan. 14 revealed that the victim’s alleged father, Colin Swift, told law enforcement on Jan. 13 that Busfield sexually abused his daughter “several years ago” in California.
The complaint alleges that Busfield “pleaded his family not to report him to law enforcement if he went to therapy,” adding that Swift, who was “a therapist himself,” believed “that was the best course of action at the time.”
Contributors: Claire Mulroy, Brendan Morrow, Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline provides free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish to survivors and their loved ones: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
