Timothy Busfield Surrenders To Police On Child Sex Abuse Charges; Mugshot Revealed

Five days after being charged with child sex abuse claims in New Mexico and declaring his innocence, Timothy Busfield has just surrendered himself to the police.

via: Deadline

Timothy Busfield, who turned himself in today to face child sexual abuse charges, has been officially arrested and booked by the Albuquerque Police Department. The thirtysomething actor has proclaimed he is innocent of the accusations.

Looking at potentially decades in New Mexico prison if found guilty, on the felonies, Busfield was booked at 1:08 pm PT at the Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center. See the actor’s mugshot photo below:

A detailed arrest warrant issued January 9 hit Busfield with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse. The claims arise out of Busfield’s stint as a director on the now shuttered Fox drama The Cleaning Lady earlier this decade.

In a video first obtained by TMZ from a New Mexico law firm, the Larry Stein-represented Busfield said Tuesday: “I’m here now. I got the call Friday night. I had to get a lawyer. Saturday, I got in a car. I drove 2000 miles to Albuquerque. I’m going to confront these lies. They’re horrible, they’re all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys. And I’m going to fight it. I’m going to fight it with a great team, and I’m going to be exonerated. I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies, so hang in there, and hopefully I’m out real soon and and back to work, and I love everybody for supporting me.”

Two brothers born in 2014 who worked on Fox’s now-canceled The Cleaning Lady, on which Busfield directed several episodes and served as an executive producer, claim that The West Wing actor touched them inappropriately. One of the boys, referred to as SL, told APD Officer Marvin Brown, who wrote up the comprehensive warrant after a few months of investigation, that Busfield touched his “penis and buttocks, masking it as play” on more than one occasion.

At almost the same time that Busfield delivered himself to police in the Western state, reps for his wife, Melissa Gilbert put out their own statement to NBC News.

“During this period, her focus is on supporting and caring for their very large family, as they navigate this moment,” a Gilbert spokesperson said for the ex-Little House on the Prairie star and labor boss. “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”

The APD have been investigating the case since late 2024 to varying degrees

In the warrant, Officer Brown writes that “pedophiles often infiltrate families under a trusted role, like Timothy, who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets.” However, in a conversation with Officer Brown late last year, Busfield pointed to another potentially pivotal factor in the history of himself and the boys’ family.

Busfield told Brown in a November 3, 2025 phone interview that Cleaning Lady “lead actress, Elodie Young” informed him back in late 2024 that “the mother of SL and VL (sic) that she wanted revenge, and I’m going to get my revenge on Tim Busfield for not bringing her kids back for the final season.”

Last year, Cleaning Lady producers Warner Bros TV launched an investigation of its own into Busfield’s conduct on the series’ Albuquerque set after an anonymous SAG-AFTRA hotline complaint about the actor-director “tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.” Upon his own reading of the investigation conducted by an outside law firm, APD Officer Brown said in the warrant that Solomon investigator “Christina McGovern was not able to talk with anyone who would support evidence that Timothy Busfield engaged in this behavior.”

It was only a few months ago that the nature of the accusations altered when the mother of the children spoke with local police again. She told them “on 09/02/2025, SL reported to his counselor that Timothy Busfield touched his penis and bottom.”

A follow up sit-down interview on October 31 between Officer Brown and SL saw the boy tell the cop that in one incident “Tim touched him three to four times on his ‘poop’ and ‘pee’ area over his clothing.” The 12-page arrest warrant added: “SL said he was very afraid of Tim and was relieved when he was off set.”

On Monday, NBC removed a January 15 episode of Law & Order: SVU episode that had the actor in a guest-star role as a judge. Instead, the network will push up the SVU episode that was originally set to air January 22.

Soon after Busfield’s booking, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office announced it “intends to file a motion seeking to keep Mr. Busfield in custody while the case proceeds through the judicial process.” The office of DA Sam Bregman added: “A judge will then determine whether Busfield remains detained or is released pending trial. The District Attorney’s Office routinely files pretrial detention motions in cases involving these types of charges.”

That paperwork is being filed presently, sources tell me. if any arraignment occurs tomorrow is up to the courts, but Busfield is spending the night in a cell today.