Judge orders release of actor Timothy Busfield pending child sex abuse case | US news
A judge ordered actor Timothy Busfield released from jail during a detention hearing on child sex abuse charges.
The order, issued Tuesday by state district court judge David Murphy, is tied to accusations that Busfield inappropriately touched a minor while working as a director on the set of The Cleaning Lady.
The judge decided to release the defendant pending trial. The judge said Busfield would be supervised by a pretrial service in Albuquerque upon his release and could leave the state and live at home.
It was decided that Busfield, the Emmy-winning actor known for his roles in The West Wing, Field of Dreams and Thirtysomething, would be held without bail at his first hearing last week. Busfield said the allegations were lies in a video he shared before surrendering.
At Tuesday’s hearing in New Mexico state district court, Busfield was handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail uniform while his wife, actor Melissa Gilbert, watched from the court gallery.
Gilbert broke down in tears as he left the courtroom after the judge ordered Busfield’s release.
Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls on the 1970s and 1980s TV series Little House on the Prairie, is on a list of potential witnesses submitted ahead of the trial.
Albuquerque police issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest earlier this month on two counts of sexual intercourse with a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint was filed alleging that the incidents occurred on the set of the TV series Cleaning Woman.
According to the criminal complaint, a police department investigator said the boy reported that Busfield touched his private parts through his clothes, once when he was 7 and another time when he was 8. The boy’s twin sister told authorities she was also affected by Busfield, but did not specify where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want him to get in trouble.
On Monday, Busfield’s attorneys presented two short audio recordings of children in their initial statements to police saying Busfield did not touch them in private areas. Lawyers in the court filing argue that the complaint characterizes the conversations as a failure to disclose abuse, but that “an outright denial is materially different from mere nondisclosure.”
According to the criminal complaint, one of the children disclosed that the program’s director touched him inappropriately during a therapy session. These recordings were seized by police during the investigation.
Deputy district attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, who argued Tuesday that Busfield should remain in custody, said the evidence of abuse against Busfield was strong and specific.
“The children’s claim is supported by medical findings and their therapists,” Brandenburg-Koch said. “Their statements were specific and not exaggerated.”
He also described Busfield’s documented sexual misconduct, abuse of authority and grooming behavior over the past three decades. Prosecutors also noted that witnesses expressed fears of retaliation and professional harm.
“GPS will not tell this court whether he was around the children or whether he spoke to witnesses,” Brandenburg-Koch said.
Busfield’s lawyers argued that the allegations only came to light after the children lost their roles on the TV show, making it a financial and retaliatory justification. In the applications, the lawyers stated that there was a history of fraud committed by both the boys’ father and mother. They cited an investigation by Warner Bros. into the allegations that found them unfounded.
Busfield also submitted letters confirming his character, and his lawyers say he passed an independent polygraph test.
Legal experts say New Mexico is one of the few states that allows polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but the judge has the final say on whether it can be used. There are strict requirements for admission.
