Timothy Busfield Will Not Be Jailed Before Child Sex Crimes Trial

Actor-director Timothy Busfield, known for roles in "The West Wing" and "Field of Dreams," was ordered to be released from jail on Tuesday as he awaits further proceedings on child sexual abuse charges after a New Mexico judge called the evidence against him "neutral."

via: EW

A judge in Bernalillo County in New Mexico ruled that the West Wing star would not stay in custody prior to the start of his trial on allegations of sexual abuse of a child actor on the set of The Cleaning Lady.

The judge ordered that Busfield be released under the condition that he has no unsupervised contact with any minors. The actor will be permitted to travel out of New Mexico until the start of his trial, but has been ordered to report to all pretrial services in the state. The judge also ordered that Busfield refrain from consuming any alcohol or illegal drugs and said that he could not contact the alleged victims or their families.

Representatives for Busfield did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

New Mexico authorities issued a warrant for Busfield's arrest on Jan. 9, alleging two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. He denied the allegations in a video and surrendered to authorities on Jan. 13.

In Tuesday's hearing, state prosecutors argued that Busfield should remain in custody until his trial because he poses a threat to the public if released and that no conditions could prevent that threat. Busfield's defense attorneys, Christopher Dodd and Amber Fayerberg, argued that it was "absurd" to consider Busfield a danger because "the state has canceled Mr. Busfield" and that he has become "persona non grata."

The judge ultimately opined that "the state has proven that Mr. Busfield does pose a danger to the safety of others" due to the severity of the allegations, but did not agree with the prosecution's assertion that no conditions could exist for his safe release.

"Given the lack of a pattern involving children in this case, I think that can be remedied through different conditions of release," the judge said at the conclusion of the hearing. "I don't find that there's been sufficient presentation that this defendant may commit new crimes if released pending trial. There's no evidence of a pattern of criminal conduct. There are no similar allegations involving children in his past. There's no evidence of non-compliance with prior court orders."

The allegations against Busfield came from twin child actors who worked with him on the Fox series The Cleaning Lady when he directed and produced multiple episodes of the show. Both children alleged that he inappropriately touched them, and one of them claimed that Busfield rubbed his genitals and touched his buttocks on set in between takes.

Busfield received dozens of letters of support that were presented as evidence during the pre-trial hearing, including statements from his wife, Melissa Gilbert, and his Thirtysomething costars Peter Horton and Ken Olin.

Busfield could face at least three years in state prison if found guilty of the alleged child abuse.