Actor Timothy Busfield indicted on 4 counts of sexual contact with a child in New Mexico
A New Mexico grand jury indicted actor Timothy Busfield on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, the Bernalillo County District Attorney's office said Friday.
The case is expected to move forward to trial, the office said on social media. The case will be prosecuted by the office's Special Victims Unit.
An arrest warrant was issued for Busfield in January after an investigator with the Albquerque Police Department filed a criminal complaint that said a child reported the actor touched him inappropriately multiple times on the set of the series "The Cleaning Lady" when the boy was 7 and 8 years old. He said was scared to report the abuse because he feared Busfield would get mad at him.
In a statement provided to CBS News on Friday, Busfield's attorney, Stanton "Larry" Stein, said the indictment was not unexpected and that Busfield would fight the charges.
"What is deeply concerning is that the District Attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial," Stein said. "The detention hearing exposed fatal weaknesses in the State's evidence — gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure. This prosecution appears driven by something other than the facts or the law."
Busfield directed and acted in the series, which ran on Fox for four seasons and ended in 2025. The complaint alleged that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, and was reported after the boy's mother took them to a hospital on the advice of a lawyer.
The boy's twin brother also told authorities he was touched by Busfield, but did not specify where, according to the complaint. He said he feared getting in trouble for reporting the alleged abuse.
Warner Bros., the producer of "The Cleaning Lady," conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them. In an interview with police last fall, Busfield told authorities that the boys' mother was seeking revenge for the boys being replaced on "The Cleaning Lady" and said he would have likely picked up and tickled the boys while on set. He described the set as a playful environment.
On January 13, Busfield turned himself into police. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County on a child sex abuse charge. Busfield denied the allegations in a video provided to TMZ.
The same day Busfield turned himself in, another allegation was reported to law enforcement, according to a court filing. A father of a then-16-year-old girl alleged Busfield kissed and inappropriately touched the girl while auditioning for a role at a California theater that Busfield co-founded. Busfield begged the family not to report the incident if he received therapy, according to the filing, and the girl's father agreed. The incident occurred several years ago, the documents said.
Busfield's lawyer also said all the charges against the actor are "completely false."
Busfield was initially held without bond before being released from jail pending trial in late January.
The district attorney's office did not share further details about the charges Busfield faces.
Busfield is known for appearances in "The West Wing," "Field of Dreams" and "Thirtysomething," the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991. He is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, who deactivated her Instagram account amid the allegations and said through a publicist she will not release any statements at the request of Busfield's attorneys while the legal process unfolds.