Timothy Busfield made his first in-person appearance in a New Mexico courtroom on Tuesday, Jan. 20, with his wife Melissa Gilbert showing her support in the gallery.
The 68-year-old walked into the courtroom wearing orange prison garb and socks with open-toed slippers. He put on brown-rimmed glasses to read over documents with his lawyers in the minutes leading up to the judge’s arrival.
Seated several rows behind him was Gilbert, who previously submitted a letter in support of her actor husband, calling him “my love, my rock, my partner in business and life.”
State prosecutors began making their case to the judge for keeping Busfield behind bars, with the defense due to give their arguments afterward.
Busfield was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse on Jan. 9, according to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY. A warrant for his arrest was issued that day.
Between late 2022 and early 2024, Busfield allegedly abused two minors who appeared in the Busfield-directed Fox series “The Cleaning Lady,” according to prosecutors.
The Michigan-born actor surrendered to authorities on Jan. 13, TMZ reported. The outlet released footage of him speaking at his lawyer’s office in Albuquerque before heading into custody.
“I’m (going to) confront these lies. They’re horrible,” Busfield said in the video. “They’re all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys, and I’m (going to) fight it. … So, hang in there, and hopefully I’m out real soon.”
Among the defense’s arguments for Busfield’s release from jail, laid out in a Jan. 17 response in opposition to the state’s motion for pretrial detention, was that an independent investigation by Warner Bros found the allegations were unfounded. The results of the investigation were not included in the criminal complaint.
Busfield’s attorneys, who said the allegations were an act of retaliation because the twin boys’ roles were recast in “The Cleaning Lady” in 2024, also alleged that the parents of his accusers have a history of “fraud and dishonesty.”
Along with over 70 letters vouching for Busfield’s character, his defense team also said he voluntarily participated in and passed a polygraph test. While polygraph results are inadmissible in court in most states, judges in New Mexico can admit them in cases.
“They’re not 100% reliable. Busfield did a polygraph. We don’t know the circumstances of it. We don’t know the qualifications of the examiner or who administered the polygraph,” civil trial attorney David Ring told USA TODAY, offering insight on the case.
“Apparently, it came out favorable, if you believe the defense, and if that’s true, they’re going to do everything they can to get that result in front of the jury.”
In the state’s Jan. 14 expedited motion for pretrial detention, Deputy District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch asked the Bernalillo County district court judge to issue an order temporarily denying the actor’s release while awaiting a detention hearing.
Brandenburg-Koch also asked for “a hearing in the District Court at which the State will prove by clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably protect the safety or any other person or the community,” per the filing.
The motion also included a new accusation against the actor, an alleged victim’s father, Colin Swift, who told law enforcement that Busfield sexually abused his daughter “several years ago” in California. “While auditioning for [Busfield] at B Street Theatre, the 16-year-old reported that [Busfield] kissed her and put his hands down her pants and touched her privates,” the motion states.
The motion adds that Busfield allegedly “begged the family to not report to law enforcement if he received therapy,” and Swift, “a therapist himself,” thought “at the time that was the best thing to do.”
“This case is very interesting already, because now you have these other victims coming forward from many years ago, and a few years ago. Anytime that happens, that can have a major impact on the case,” Ring said about the Busfield case.
“I’m not sure a judge is going to allow those prior victims into this trial, but we’ll have to wait and see. There’s a long way to go until that ruling is made.”
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY