Timothy Busfield faces new sexual abuse allegation involving 16-year-old girl

Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield was ordered to remain detained on child sex abuse charges Wednesday in New Mexico as new details emerged about a separate misconduct allegation against him.

Busfield did not enter a plea during a court appearance in which he was ordered to be held without bond. Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Felicia Blea-Rivera said a hearing will take place in five business days.

Busfield has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. Two boys told Albuquerque police that Busfield inappropriately touched them, according to a criminal complaint.

Earlier Wednesday, in a filing seeking Busfield’s detainment, prosecutors detailed a new allegation of sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl in California years ago. Busfield has not been criminally charged in connection with that allegation.

In the seven-page filing, New Mexico prosecutors said law enforcement officers received a report Tuesday from the alleged victim’s father, who said Busfield kissed his 16-year-old daughter and touched her intimate parts “several years ago.”

Busfield “begged the family” to hold off on reporting the alleged misconduct if he got therapy, according to the prosecutors’ document. He has not been charged in relation to the allegation detailed in the filing.

Busfield’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the claims in the prosecutors’ filing.

Busfield turned himself in to Albuquerque authorities Tuesday after a warrant for his arrest was issued. He was booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque that afternoon, according to online records.

Two boys allege Busfield touched them inappropriately on the Albuquerque set of the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady.” The boys’ parents alleged he did so on multiple occasions; one of the boys said he was touched on his intimate parts over his clothing, according to a criminal complaint filed this month.

The boys are identified by their initials in the 12-page complaint.

The criminal complaint said one of the boys told police that Busfield first touched him inappropriately when he was 7 years old and again when he was 8 years old. The document alleges the abuse took place between November 2022 and spring 2024.

In a November interview with investigators detailed in the complaint, Busfield said an actor on “The Cleaning Lady” had told him the boys’ mother was upset because the children were not asked to return for the show’s final season, leading her to allegedly seek revenge.

The actor he mentioned did not speak to investigators, according to the complaint.

Busfield also told authorities that he likely would have picked up and tickled the boys, describing the set as a playful environment, according to the document.

Warner Bros., the studio that co-produced the series, commissioned a law firm to carry out an independent investigation into complaints against Busfield, but the review did not find any evidence to corroborate the allegations.

“Based on what was alleged, and all evidence gathered, including multiple witness statements, I found no corroborating evidence that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct or that he was ever alone” with the accusers on set, said Christina McGovern of Solomon Law.

Busfield is best known for playing a reporter on NBC’s “The West Wing” and an advertising executive on ABC’s “Thirtysomething.” The latter won him an Emmy. He is married to “Little House on the Prairie” actor Melissa Gilbert, a former president of the Screen Actors Guild.

“Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time,” Gilbert’s representative, Ame Van Iden, said in a statement Tuesday, adding that she will not make other public comments at this time at the request of Busfield’s lawyers.

CORRECTION: (Jan. 15, 2026, 4:15 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated one of the crimes Timothy Busfield has been charged with. It is child abuse, not child sex abuse.