Judge Dismisses Child Sex Abuse Charges Against Actor Timothy Busfield

A New Mexico judge has thrown out all charges against Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield, ruling that prosecutors mishandled the case against him.

State District Judge Joseph Montano granted a defence motion on Friday to dismiss the indictment, citing errors that undermined the grand jury process, and said the prosecutor “failed to act in a fair and impartial manner.” A spokesperson for the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney in Bernalillo County told the BBC that “our office has received the order and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed.” The BBC has also contacted a legal representative for Busfield, who has denied all the allegations against him throughout the case.

Busfield – known for roles in The West Wing, Field of Dreams and Thirtysomething – was indicted in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child. He had surrendered to authorities in Albuquerque in January after a warrant was issued, initially facing two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one count of child abuse; a judge subsequently released him pending trial.

The case centred on accusations from child actors who worked with Busfield on the Fox series The Cleaning Lady, which he both directed and produced. According to the indictment, reviewed by the BBC, Busfield “touched or applied force to the intimate parts” of one of the boys, who was under 13 at the time, between 19 October 2022 and 10 September 2023. An arrest affidavit said the boys referred to him as “Uncle Tim” and that he “would tickle them on the stomach and legs,” with both telling investigators they had been touched inappropriately over a period of years. The original arrest warrant stated that the boys’ parents had accused Busfield of grooming and sexually abusing the children while they worked on the show together.

Busfield’s defence team pushed back hard against the allegations, submitting more than 70 letters attesting to his character and noting that he had taken and passed a polygraph test on the matter. His lawyers also offered an alternative explanation for the accusations, arguing they surfaced only after the boys were fired from the series – a move they said angered the children’s mother and prompted the claims as retaliation.

Source: BBC News