New Mexico authorities have accused Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield, known for the TV series \u201cThe West Wing\u201d and \u201cThirtysomething,\u201d of child sex abuse. <\/p>\n
A judge on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the 68-year-old actor on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and a single count of child abuse. The arrest warrant affidavit, reviewed by The Times on Sunday, accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his tenure on the Fox crime drama \u201cThe Cleaning Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,\u201d Fox and Warner Bros. Television said in a statement Sunday. \u201cWe take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. … We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
A legal representative for Busfield did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. Busfield has not been placed in police custody as of Monday morning. <\/p>\n
In the wake of the allegations against Busfield, his wife, \u201cLittle House on the Prairie\u201d actor Melissa Gilbert, went dark on social media, according to several reports. <\/a>As of Monday, the link<\/a> to her official Instagram account leads to a page featuring the error message: \u201cProfile isn\u2019t available. The link may be broken, or the profile may have been removed.\u201d <\/p>\n In a November Instagram post, former Screen Actors Guild President Gilbert spoke out against Megyn Kelly\u2019s <\/a>\u2018s claim that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was not a pedophile because he was \u201cinto the barely legal type\u201d of minors, \u201clike 15-year-olds.\u201d Gilbert at the time recalled acting at 15 and being expected to \u201cfall in love with\u2019\u201d and kiss an older man on-screen. In her caption, Gilbert praised the people who made her feel safe on the set of her show and urged Kelly to \u201cbe careful with your words.\u201d <\/p>\n In the affidavit, the investigator recalled his phone interview with Busfield and Gilbert, noting that the actors said \u201cthey did have a relationship\u201d with the child actors involved in the case, and the spouses \u201cdid buy the two boys Christmas gifts and were together on several social functions.\u201d A representative for Gilbert did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. <\/p>\n Busfield, who was an actor, producer and director for \u201cThe Cleaning Lady,\u201d is accused of sexually assaulting one of the young actors multiple times during his tenure. According to the affidavit, one child actor said Busfield first touched his \u201c\u2018private areas\u2019\u201d multiple times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that when he was 8 years old, Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times, according to the affidavit. He was \u201cafraid to tell anyone because Tim was the Director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him,\u201d the affidavit said. <\/p>\n The second child actor said that Busfield \u201cstarted touching them for the first two years\u201d of his time on \u201cThe Cleaning Lady,\u201d which filmed in Albuquerque, according to the complaint. The investigator said both children said they did not speak out about their alleged encounters with Busfield out of fear or concern for him. <\/p>\n The actors\u2019 mother, per the complaint, reported the alleged abuse to Child Protective Services in October 2025, claiming that Busfield sexually abused her children from November 2022 to spring 2024. Police began investigating the alleged abuse in November 2024 after receiving a request from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital. <\/p>\n According to the affidavit, the investigation also included interviews with the children\u2019s therapists and doctors. One of the child actors, who disclosed the alleged abuse to his therapist, has issues with bed-wetting \u201calong with other behavior issues,\u201d was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety and has suffered nightmares \u201cabout the director touching him,\u201d according to the complaint. <\/p>\n The investigator also spoke to numerous cast and crew members of \u201cThe Cleaning Lady,\u201d which was canceled in June after four seasons<\/a>. The affidavit details the investigator\u2019s conversations with production assistants, the studio teacher and Busfield. <\/p>\n Busfield told the investigator that \u201cCleaning Lady\u201d producer Warner Bros. Television notified him in the spring of 2025 of an investigation regarding complaints \u201cabout him from the boys.\u201d When asked whether he had any physical contact with the two child actors, Busfield \u201csaid it was highly likely that he would have,\u201d the complaint said. He suggested to the investigator that the boys\u2019 mother might have sought \u201crevenge\u201d on the director for \u201cnot bringing her kids back for the final season,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n Though Busfield confirmed the identities of the young actors to the investigator in his interview, he allegedly said later, \u201cI don\u2019t remember those boys\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn\u2019t be uncommon for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The complaint also details Warner Bros.\u2019 investigation into Busfield\u2019s alleged behavior. After an anonymous tip in February 2025 from the SAG-AFTRA hotline regarding a December 2024 incident, the studio started its investigation. Busfield allegedly entered the hair and makeup trailer and \u201ckissed a minor male on the face as the minor was getting a haircut,\u201d according to the complaint. The complaint further alleged \u201cthere are pictures of Mr. Busfield, \u2018tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Neither Fox nor Warner Bros. immediately responded to a request for comment Sunday, but a spokesperson for the latter told the New York Times<\/a> that it is \u201caware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Busfield received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Elliot Weston in the ABC drama \u201cThirtysomething\u201d in the late 1980s and early \u201890s. He also appeared in \u201cField of Dreams,\u201d \u201cLittle Big League,\u201d \u201cThe Byrds of Paradise\u201d and other titles. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role in \u201cThe West Wing\u201d as Danny Concannon, a White House correspondent who strikes up a relationship with Press Secretary C.J. Clegg, played by Allison Janney. <\/p>\n In addition to television and film, Busfield is a stage actor and director. In 1991, Busfield and his brother Buck Busfield created the B Street Theatre<\/a>, a nonprofit theater in Sacramento that first began as a touring theater group for children. He also pitched for the Sacramento Smokeys, and was inducted into the Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n Before the allegations from his time on \u201cThe Cleaning Lady,\u201d Busfield was accused in 1994 of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old actor who appeared on \u201cLittle Big League.\u201d He denied those claims and sued his accuser for defamation. The case ended with a settlement<\/a>, with a judge ordering Busfield to pay the woman $150,000.<\/p>\n