The American actor and director Timothy Busfield (68) was formally indicted this Friday, February 6, by a grand jury in New Mexico, which voted to advance with four counts of criminal sexual contact against a minor.The decision allows the case revealed in early January to continue its course towards an eventual trial.Until now, the actor has insisted on his innocence.
As reported by Reuters, the grand jury voted to indict Busfield after the prosecutor’s office presented the case linked to alleged sexual abuse against two children identified as twin brothers.The crimes would have been committed during the filming of the Fox series The Cleaning Lady in Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico.On that project, Busfield served as episode director and executive producer.
According to the original complaint presented by the prosecution, the events would have occurred over two years of production, when the children were seven or eight years old.Currently, the minors are 11 years old.Although the grand jury indictment had not yet been made public at the close of business on Friday, the content corresponds to the initial criminal accusation presented by the prosecutor.
In legal terms, the charges of which The West Wing actor is accused are third-degree felonies in New Mexico.
“As with all criminal proceedings, Mr. Busfield is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement released Friday.In that same message, County Attorney Sam Bregman stressed that “protecting children remains a top priority for this office.”
The case against Busfield became public in early 2026, when an arrest warrant was issued on January 9, based on an investigation by the Albuquerque Police Department.The actor voluntarily surrendered to the authorities on January 13, a few days after the criminal complaint was filed against him.
A week later, on January 20, a hearing was held in which the prosecutor’s office requested that Busfield remain detained while the process progressed.However, a judge rejected that request, considering that there was insufficient evidence to justify preventive detention, and ordered his release.
As the prosecution announced at that hearing, the case was submitted to a grand jury, which finally decided to formally charge the actor.The next step will be the arraignment hearing, in which Busfield must appear in court and plead guilty or not guilty.
Since the beginning of the process, Timothy Busfield has categorically denied the accusations.Before turning himself in to the police on January 13, the actor recorded a video broadcast on his social networks: “I didn’t do anything. These are all lies and I didn’t do anything to those little ones, and I’m going to fight. I’m going to fight with a great team and I’m going to be acquitted,” he expressed.
After learning of the grand jury indictment, his civil lawyer, Stanton “Larry” Stein, reiterated that position in statements reported by the American press.
“The indictment was not unexpected. As the saying goes, a grand jury would indict even a ham sandwich,” Stein said.“What is deeply troubling is that the district attorney is choosing to pursue a case that is fundamentally inconsistent and cannot be proven at trial.”
“The detention hearing exposed fatal weaknesses in the prosecution’s evidence, gaps that no charging decision can remedy,” he said.
The lawyer insisted that the accusation against Busfield could be motivated by an alleged intention of revenge on the part of the parents.”This allegation appears to be driven by something other than the facts or the law. Mr. Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State’s case in an open court, where evidence matters, not behind closed doors,” he said.
Busfield is a well-known figure on American television, especially for his role as a journalist on The West Wing, broadcast between 1999 and 2006, and for his work on the series Thirtysomething during the 1980s. He is married to actress Melissa Gilbert, star of the series The Ingalls Family and former president of the actors union SAG-AFTRA, who accompanied him at the January hearing and was one of the people who presented letters of support before the judge.
