Timothy Busfield, the Emmy-winning actor known for “The West Wing” and “Thirtysomething,” has won a legal victory in his child sexual abuse case.
On Tuesday, a New Mexico judge sided with Busfield and announced that he will release him on his own recognizance while the 68-year-old actor and director awaits trial on allegations that he sexually abused two child actors on the set of the Fox drama “The Cleaning Lady.” His wife, “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert, was present at Tuesday's hearing and cried after the decision.
“Thank you, God,” he seemed to say.
New Mexico District Court Judge David A. Murphy said the child sexual abuse allegations against Busfield are “inherently dangerous” and that prosecutors have shown that “Mr. Busfield poses a danger to the safety of others,” but that it is currently “difficult for the court to place too much weight on the allegations since they have not been examined by the judicial system.”
Before making his decision, Murphy cited letters sent by Busfield's defense team from the actor's friends and family, additional affidavits in support of the actor and “the lack of a pattern involving children in this case.”
“I don't think there has been enough presentation that this defendant may commit new crimes pending trial. There is no evidence of a pattern of criminal conduct,” Murphy added. “There are no similar allegations involving children in his past. There is no evidence of non-compliance with previous court orders.”
Although Busfield will be supervised by a pretrial services officer in Albuquerque, his travel will not be limited and he will be required to report to that officer. You are prohibited from possessing firearms and weapons and consuming alcohol or drugs. He is also ordered to refrain from contacting the alleged victims and their families and from discussing his case with witnesses.
Busfield had been incarcerated at the Albuquerque Metropolitan Detention Center, where he was charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and a single count of child abuse. He turned himself in to authorities last week, days after New Mexico officials issued an arrest warrant for him.
An affidavit filed earlier this month accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his tenure as director, actor and producer of “The Cleaning Lady.” According to the complaint, a child actor said Busfield first touched his “private areas” several times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that when he was 8 years old, Busfield again touched him inappropriately several times, according to the affidavit. The complaint also details a police interview with Busfield in which he suggested the children's mother may have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her children back for the final season.”
Before his surrender, Busfield denied the allegations. “They're all lies and I didn't do anything to those little kids,” he said in a video posted last week by TMZ. At the time he also told his followers that he intended to “fight” the charges and predicted, “I will be exonerated.”
Tuesday's hearing featured testimony from Bernalillo County's district deputy. Lawyer. Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, Busfield's defense attorney Amber Fayerberg, and testimony from “Cleaning Lady” cinematographer Alan Caudillo.
Although Brandenburg-Koch opposed Busfield's release and cited previous allegations that he assaulted two women, his attorney presented audio of the child actors' initial interviews with police in which they said Busfield did not touch them inappropriately.
“This was not a failure to disclose,” Fayerberg said of the audio clips, which he played in the courtroom. “This was an express denial.”
Fayerberg also mentioned the legal troubles of the child actors' parents, including father Ronald Rodis' guilty plea to a federal fraud charge in 2017, and a 2011 fraud lawsuit against the children's mother, Angele LaSalle. The lawyer said the two young actors had been “victims,” but not by Busfield.
“They were victimized by their own parents, who could no longer make money as lawyers, they were disbarred. They could no longer write bad checks,” he said, “taking 85% of the money they made on a TV show and then becoming victims as revenge.”
Busfield's professional career has taken numerous hits amid allegations of child sexual abuse. When the complaint circulated, his agency fired Busfield and removed him from an upcoming film, according to Deadline. Last week, NBC also decided to remove an episode of “Law & Order: SVU” with Busfield from its programming.
