{"id":295485,"date":"2026-01-21T08:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/295485\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:23:08","slug":"melissa-gilbert-may-speak-at-sex-abuse-hearing-for-husband-timothy-busfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/295485\/","title":{"rendered":"Melissa Gilbert may speak at sex abuse hearing for husband Timothy Busfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Actor Timothy Busfield was released from jail Tuesday night in New Mexico, where he is facing counts of child sexual abuse<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Hours earlier, Busfield\u2019s attorneys successfully argued that the actor best known for appearances in \u201cThe West Wing,\u201d \u201cField of Dreams\u201d and \u201cThirtysomething\u201d wasn\u2019t a danger to the community and shouldn\u2019t be behind bars while he awaits trial. Prosecutors sought to keep him in jail, outlining what they said was grooming behavior and abuse of power by Busfield over three decades. <\/p>\n

State District Court Judge David Murphy said while the crimes Busfield is accused of inherently are dangerous and involve children, prosecutors didn\u2019t prove the public wouldn\u2019t be safe if he\u2019s released. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no evidence of a pattern of criminal conduct, there are no similar allegations involving children in his past,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cRather this defendant self-surrendered and submitted himself to this court\u2019s jurisdiction, demonstrating compliance with the court order for his arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the courthouse, Busfield\u2019s wife, actor Melissa Gilbert, thanked Murphy for the ruling. She also thanked friends, relatives, co-workers and strangers who she said have showered their family with love. Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls in the 1970s to \u201980s<\/a> TV series \u201cLittle House on the Prairie,\u201d sat behind Busfield during the hearing. He was handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.<\/p>\n


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Busfield is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse while working as a director on the set of the TV series \u201cThe Cleaning Lady,\u201d allegations that he denies. He was booked into jail after a warrant was issued for his arrest and he turned himself in. <\/p>\n

According to the criminal complaint, an investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department said a boy reported that Busfield touched him on his private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8. The boy\u2019s twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but he did not specify where and didn\u2019t say anything because he didn\u2019t want to get in trouble, the complaint said. <\/p>\n

During the hearing Tuesday, Busfield\u2019s attorneys pointed out that the children initially said during interviews with police that Busfield didn\u2019t touch them inappropriately. Busfield\u2019s attorneys then accused the boys\u2019 parents of coaching their children toward incriminating statements after the boys lost lucrative roles on the show.<\/p>\n

Busfield\u2019s defense team called just one witness \u2014 Alan Caudillo, director of photography on \u201cThe Cleaning Lady\u201d \u2014 to testify that children on set were never left alone with individuals, and that the parents were the ones who encouraged hugs with adults on the set.<\/p>\n

According to the criminal complaint, one of the boys later disclosed during a therapy session that he was inappropriately touched by Busfield. Those records were obtained by police during the investigation.<\/p>\n

Assistant District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch called evidence of abuse against Busfield strong and specific. She also said witnesses expressed fear about potential retaliation and professional harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys\u2019 allegation are supported by medical findings and by their therapist,\u201d Brandenburg-Koch said. \u201cTheir accounts were specific and not exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arguing for Busfield\u2019s release, defense attorney Amber Fayerberg said her client will be under intense scrutiny because of publicity surrounding the charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat bell can\u2019t be un-rung,\u201d Fayerberg said. \u201cThe idea that he (Busfield) could then go out and be dangerous with a child \u2014 in the world where everybody knows who he is \u2014 is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busfield submitted letters vouching for his character, and his attorneys say he passed an independent polygraph test.<\/p>\n

Legal experts say New Mexico is among a few states that allow polygraph evidence in criminal cases, but a judge has final say over whether one can be used. There are strict requirements for admission in court.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Lee reported from Santa Fe, New Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) \u2014 Actor Timothy Busfield was released from jail Tuesday night in New Mexico, where he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[146790,146789,7555,434,68754,27,715,16704,18,117,3334,19,146788,17,56744,56746,13758,88034,58192,146396,42652,142353,55020,4077],"class_list":{"0":"post-295485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-alan-caudillo","9":"tag-amber-fayerberg","10":"tag-arts-and-entertainment","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-child-abuse","13":"tag-courts","14":"tag-crime","15":"tag-david-murphy","16":"tag-eire","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-indictments","21":"tag-ireland","22":"tag-laura-ingalls","23":"tag-melissa-gilbert","24":"tag-new-mexico","25":"tag-nm-state-wire","26":"tag-prisons","27":"tag-send-to-apple-news","28":"tag-sexual-abuse","29":"tag-timothy-busfield","30":"tag-trials","31":"tag-u-s-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115932129135587609","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}