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Some very disturbing news this weekend out of Hollywood:
Timothy Busfield — a veteran actor and director who is married to Melissa Gilbert — is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.
In an arrest warrant issued by the Albuquerque Police Department on January 9, authorities claim that Busfield engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old siblings… whose identities were withheld from the public.
One of the minors says the incidents began when he was 7 years old.
This individual alleged the first incident involved Busfield touching him three or four times… and that the 68-year old also touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8.
While speaking with Officer Marvin Kirk Brown, who issued the warrant, the victims’ parents said the minors were actors who met Busfield on the set of the FOX series The Cleaning Lady, where Busfield served as a director.
In a statement to People Magazine, a Warner Bros. Television representative said the following:
“The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions. We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action.”
No one associated with Busfield has commented at this point on the accusations.
The investigation got underway in November 2024 when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The child’s parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint states.
Busfield is best known for appearances on 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.
Officer Brown says the aforementioned siblings claim Busfield “would tickle them on the stomach and legs” and that they referred to him as “Uncle Tim.”
On October 3, 2025, the kids’ mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services that “her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Timothy from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.”
A therapist who worked with one of the supposed victims is on record as saying the child began “having nightmares about the director touching him and waking up scared,” and claimed Busfield “had touched and rubbed his penis 3 or 4 times and appeared to be ashamed,” per the warrant.
Busfield also faced prior sexual assault allegations dating back to 1994, according to the warrant.
Kay D. Rhodes
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