Actor Timothy Busfield, known for his roles in 'The West Wing,' 'Field of Dreams,' and 'Thirtysomething,' turned himself in on Tuesday after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of child sex abuse.
Two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one count of child abuse are the charges he faces. The allegations stem from incidents that allegedly occurred during the filming of "The Cleaning Lady" series, which was shot in Albuquerque. Busfield, who is married to actress Melissa Gilbert, denied the claims when questioned by authorities last fall.
According to the warrant issued by the city police department, a child reported being 7 years old and having Busfield touch him multiple times on private areas over his clothing. Another incident involved touching five or six times when he was 8 years old, according to the complaint.
The boy reportedly feared talking about it due to fear of retribution from Busfield as he was the director at that time. His twin brother also shared similar experiences, stating he too experienced abuse but did not want to get in trouble.
Busfield's attorney has yet to comment on this matter. The investigation started last year after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital reported some children who had visited the hospital for medical reasons were being abused by an individual who worked with them.
Two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one count of child abuse are the charges he faces. The allegations stem from incidents that allegedly occurred during the filming of "The Cleaning Lady" series, which was shot in Albuquerque. Busfield, who is married to actress Melissa Gilbert, denied the claims when questioned by authorities last fall.
According to the warrant issued by the city police department, a child reported being 7 years old and having Busfield touch him multiple times on private areas over his clothing. Another incident involved touching five or six times when he was 8 years old, according to the complaint.
The boy reportedly feared talking about it due to fear of retribution from Busfield as he was the director at that time. His twin brother also shared similar experiences, stating he too experienced abuse but did not want to get in trouble.
Busfield's attorney has yet to comment on this matter. The investigation started last year after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital reported some children who had visited the hospital for medical reasons were being abused by an individual who worked with them.
just saw that Timothy Busfield is facing child sex abuse charges 
and i gotta say, my mind is blown 
how could someone in a position of power like that even think they can get away with it? 
i mean, the fact that he was directing this kid during filming of "The Cleaning Lady" series is just sickening 
and the fact that he allegedly threatened him if he said anything 
is just disgusting. 
. it's not okay to exploit someone like that in such a vulnerable position 
. The fact that his twin brother also went through similar experiences is just devastating 
, it's like these children were living a nightmare and nobody was there to protect them. I hope justice is served and he faces the consequences for what he did... this should be a wake-up call for all of us to take child safety seriously 
and I'm like, totally fascinated by how they manage to fit everything into such a small space. It's amazing what you can store in there! And then I started thinking, have you ever tried cooking meals in one of those tiny kitchens? Forget about it, it's like trying to cook with a toy oven 
. Anyway, back to Timothy Busfield... this news is really disturbing, I mean who would've thought that someone with such a great career could be involved in something like this? 
, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it... Timothy Busfield's career, his personal life, everything is being torn apart because of these allegations 
. The fact that he was the director on set and allegedly abused those kids under his care is just devastating 
. How can this happen in our industry? 
We need to do better, people! #JusticeForTheVictims #ChildSafetyMatters #ActingScandals
. And I started thinking, what's the deal with shoes anyway? We spend so much time in our daily lives walking around in them and yet we still manage to find ways to get blisters and stuff