Actor and director Timothy Busfield will be eligible for release from a New Mexico jail as he faces charges of child sex abuse, a judge has ruled.
During a Tuesday, Jan. 20, pretrial detention hearing, Judge David A. Murphy ruled there was no probable cause to show that “The West Wing” alum must remain behind bars due to a public safety risk. Murphy denied state prosecutors’ motion to keep him detained and allowed the 68-year-old to be released on his own recognizance after he spent a week in jail.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Busfield’s lawyer Larry Stein said his team is “delighted that the judge thoroughly reviewed the evidence and reached a just decision. And we are excited and happy, especially [wife] Melissa [Gilbert].”
USA TODAY has reached out to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
The ruling was made during Busfield’s first in-person appearance in a New Mexico courtroom, nearly a week after his previous virtual appearance before a judge. A tearful Gilbert, who was seated behind her husband in the gallery, quietly celebrated the judge’s decision.
Gilbert previously submitted a letter in support of her actor husband and in it called him “my love, my rock, my partner in business and life.”
A handcuffed Busfield walked into the courtroom earlier in the afternoon wearing an orange prison uniform 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.
Both state prosecutors and Busfield’s defense were allotted an hour each to present their arguments for and against his continued detention, respectively.
Busfield is next due for a status conference on Feb. 4.
Murphy noted prosecutors presented a satisfying case that Busfield “does pose a danger to the safety of others.”
However, he said, “Based on the limited information I have in front of me, I’ll characterize the weight of the evidence against the defendant as neutral at this point in time.”
The judge noted Busfield has “zero criminal history” and “there are no similar allegations involving children of this past.” Any prior sexual assault allegations against him, which were mentioned in his criminal complaint, haven’t “been vetted by the judiciary system.”
As such, Murphy said, “I cannot find that the state has proven by clearly convincing evidence that there are no release conditions that would reasonably protect the safety of any other person in the community.”
The conditions of Busfield’s release are that he must appear in all future court hearings and report to pretrial services in Albuquerque.
He cannot “violate any laws”; have firearms or “dangerous weapons”; possess or consume alcohol or illegal drugs; or have contact with alleged victims, their families, or “any minor children in this case.”
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 actors, who were 7 and 8 years old at the time, as they worked on 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.”
While arguing against the state’s case for Busfield’s continued detention, his defense cast doubt on the credibility of the alleged victims’ claims.
“These are manufactured allegations,” defense attorney Amber Fayerberg told the judge.
In audio that was played in court, allegedly from the children’s first interview with police in 2024, the boy known as V.L. said Busfield “never” touched what the officer called his “private areas.” His brother, S.L., also denied inappropriate touching from Busfield.
In a rebuttal, Brandenburg-Koch told the judge it’s “not shocking to the state that [the boys] didn’t disclose to police right away, especially when the questions were inappropriate. They were leading in everything that best practices say how kids should not be asked questions.”
While issuing his ruling, Murphy said “the testimony offered today do not corroborate the allegations offered by the alleged victims in this case” but agreed it’s “not uncommon” for minor victims to make such a denial.
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.”
“There are victims, and they were still these two boys. But they weren’t victimized by Tim Busfield,” Amber Fayerberg told the judge. “They were victimized by their own parents, who no longer could make money as a lawyer disbarred, no longer could write bad checks, taking 85% of the money they made on a TV show, and then manufacture into victims as revenge.”
In 2017, the alleged victims’ father pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“The state has canceled Mr. Busfield. His talent agency has dropped him. He’s been edited out of a recent rom-com. … He has no power. He is persona non grata,” Fayerberg said. “And that’s not because he did anything wrong. … But that’s because of the world we live in and it’s because these allegations, this complaint, is not only all over New Mexico, all over the national media, it is all over the world.”
Along with over 70 letters vouching for Busfield’s character, his defense team also said he voluntarily participated in and passed a polygraph test on Jan. 13, in which he denied touching S.L.’s “intimate parts.” The defense said the actor also underwent a psychosexual risk assessment on Jan. 15.
However, the prosecution argued that the matters the actor was asked about during the polygraph test were not what was at issue during the hearing, but rather whether he should be released as his case unfolds.
“It doesn’t matter who he’s attracted to. We know that all different types of sex offenders prey on different demographics of people,” Deputy District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch said. “They don’t have to be a pedophile for this to happen.”
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, 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