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Timothy Busfield to be released from jail pending child sex abuse case; here's a look at allegations against actor
A judge ordered Timothy Busfield to be released from jail on Tuesday, January 20, during a detention hearing.
A judge ordered Timothy Busfield to be released from jail on Tuesday, January 20, during a detention hearing. The prominent actor and director was charged with child sex abuse. His sobbing wife, Melissa Gilbert, was seen mouthing “thank you, God” as the judge ordered his release, the New York Post reported.
Judge David Murphy ordered that 68-year-old Busfield be released on his own recognizance until the trial. The order said that he can leave the state to live at home, but will be supervised upon release by a pretrial service in Albuquerque.
What are the allegations against Timothy Busfield?
Busfield has been accused of inappropriately touching two minors while working as a director on the set of the series The Cleaning Lady. In a motion filed on January 14, the Field of Dreams actor was also accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl “several years ago” in Sacramento, California, by prosecutors in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.
Busfield has denied the allegations. “Tim Busfield denies the allegations in the criminal complaint and maintains they are completely false,” his lawyer, Larry Stein, told the New York Post in a statement earlier this month.
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On January 9, Busfield had a warrant put out for his arrest in New Mexico. The actor allegedly inappropriately touched one of the boys three or four times, and the other five or six times, according to the warrant.
The alleged abuse began when the children were 7 years old, court documents showed. The first time the allegations were investigated was in November 2024, when a physician told police about suspected sexual abuse and grooming after examining one of the children at the University of New Mexico Hospital.
Busfield reportedly told cops that it was “highly likely” he touched kids on set, noting that no rules were put in place.
“I mean, I’m always around people, right? It would be, you know, in front of the parents. There would never be a weird moment about it,” Busfield, who described the show’s set as a “playful environment,” said during a November 3, 2025, interview, according to the arrest warrant.
“I don’t really remember picking those boys up,” he reportedly told investigators. “I remember picking up the boy who followed them. I’d pick him up and he’d be giggling and that would sort of get him ready to act.”
Busfield’s lawyer later shared a video with TMZ, in which the actor denied the allegations after he surrendered to authorities. He called the allegations “all lies” and said he “did not do anything to those little boys.”
“I’m going to fight it. I’m going to fight it with a great team, and I’m going to be exonerated,” Busfield said in the video. “I know I am because this is all so wrong and all lies.”
What Timothy Busfield’s attorneys said
Busfield’s attorneys claimed in a filing that there is a lack of evidence. “The State’s attempt to transform responsible self-surrender into aggravating conduct only underscores the absence of genuine evidence of dangerousness,” a new opposition filing said, according to Deadline.
Read More | Actor Timothy Busfield ordered held without bond in New Mexico child sex abuse case
“The Motion asks the Court to imprison a man based on a story that has already collapsed under independent scrutiny,” the document filed by Albuquerque attorneys, Amber Fayerberg and Christopher Dodd, read. “The State offers no reliable proof—only allegations advanced by witnesses with documented histories of fraud and financial exploitation, contradicted by a comprehensive studio investigation, and refuted by witnesses and objective risk assessments. The Constitution does not allow liberty to be forfeited on such a foundation. The State’s Motion should be denied.”
“For all of these reasons—the independent investigation that undermined the State’s allegations at every turn, the affirmative findings of the polygraph and ABEL assessment, the overwhelming evidence of character and community support, and the absence of any reliable proof of dangerousness—the State cannot meet its burden of clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably protect the community. The Constitution requires release under appropriate conditions,” added the lawyers.
