Albuquerque, 16 January (H.S.): Emmy-winning actor and director Timothy Busfield, renowned for roles in Thirtysomething and The West Wing, appeared in court on Thursday following his surrender to authorities on allegations of sexually abusing two young boys during production of Fox's crime drama The Cleaning Lady, where he served as both director and executive producer.
Prosecutors from Bernalillo County detailed in an arrest affidavit that the boys—aged 7 and 8 at the time of the alleged incidents spanning November 2022 to 2024—accused Busfield of grooming them on set, referring to him as Uncle Tim before he repeatedly touched their stomachs, legs, and private areas over clothing during breaks.
One victim reported suffering nightmares, bedwetting, and diagnoses of PTSD and anxiety, fearing Busfield's anger if he disclosed the encounters; a judge ordered Busfield held without bail pending a January 20 hearing after his initial Wednesday appearance before Metropolitan Court Judge Felicia Blea-Rivera.
Busfield's attorney, Stanton Larry Stein, vehemently denied the claims as fabricated revenge by the boys' mother after their termination from the series' final season, citing a Warner Bros. investigation that uncovered no corroborating evidence of impropriety or unsupervised access.
A fresh allegation emerged Tuesday from a California father's report that Busfield kissed and groped his 16-year-old daughter years ago during an audition at the actor's co-founded B-Street Theatre, where Busfield allegedly begged the family to withhold police involvement in exchange for therapy—prompting prosecutors to cite a documented pattern of sexual misconduct including prior 1990s and 2012 accusations, though Busfield passed a volunteered polygraph and faces no charges on the new claim.
The Cleaning Lady producers Warner Bros. Television and Fox affirmed cooperation with law enforcement, prioritizing cast and crew safety, while Busfield's wife, Melissa Gilbert, deferred public comment through her publicist to respect legal proceedings amid circulating online falsehoods. Stein emphasized prior probes found no substantiation, vowing exoneration as Busfield contests two felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one child abuse charge.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
