Melissa Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield faces arrest warrant on child sexual abuse charges

Timothy Busfield, the husband of Melissa Gilbert, known for his role as Danny Concannon on The West Wing, has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one count of child abuse.

In an arrest warrant issued by the Albuquerque Police Department and obtained by PEOPLE on Friday, January 9, authorities allege that Busfield, 68, engaged in illegal sexual acts with two boys, 11-year-old twins whose identities have not been released.

One of the minors claimed that the incident began when he was seven years old.

The investigation began on November 1, 2024, after a University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) doctor reported suspected sexual abuse to police.

According to the arrest warrant, the victims’ parents said in a conversation with Officer Marvin Kirk Brown, who issued the warrant, that the minors were child actors who met Busfield on the set of the Fox series “Cleaning Women,” which Busfield directed.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a representative for Warner Bros. Television said, “The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors who appear in our productions. We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate and take appropriate action when necessary.”

“(We) have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement,” the spokesperson added.

A representative for FOX did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The TV show aired from January 2022 to June 2025.

The children’s parents said Busfield “became closer to the boys” after participating in the series, according to the arrest warrant.

“Timothy reportedly told the children to call him ‘Uncle Tim,'” the warrant alleges. The parents told officers that they “both learned that there were allegations of sexual assault against Timothy, both against women and minors.”

After their father was told that there had been “repeated rumors that Timothy was ‘manipulating’ women,” the brothers’ mother asked her sons, who were 11 years old at the time, if anyone had ever touched them in a way that made them uncomfortable. The children reportedly responded, “Do you talk to me like Uncle Tim?”” according to the warrant.

The parents were advised by a lawyer to take the children to UNMH, and the warrant said an expert suggested the boys be “groomed.”

Officer Brown said the brothers have not disclosed any sexual contact at this time, but both claimed that Busfield “tickled their stomachs and feet.”

The case was subsequently determined not to meet the then-current acceptance criteria.

On October 3, 2025, the mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services that “both children disclosed sexual abuse by Timothy between approximately November 2022 and the spring of 2024.” But he was told nothing could be done because no physical abuse occurred, according to the warrant.

The mother told authorities on September 2, 2025 and September 22, 2025, that SL told a counselor that Basfield inappropriately touched her.

When one of the victims was 10 years old, a therapist diagnosed him with moderate post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety after complaints of “inappropriate touching.”

The therapist said the boy “started to have nightmares in which he woke up scared of the director touching him,” and claimed that Busfield “touched and rubbed his penis three or four times and seemed embarrassed,” according to the warrant.

He also had bedwetting and other behavioral issues, according to the warrant.

“After the set was over, (the victim) stated that he was scared and quickly walked up to his father and hid behind him,” the warrant states. “(The victim) stated that Tim was the director and that he did not tell anyone because he was afraid of Tim’s anger.”

The victim told authorities she did not come forward because she “didn’t want to be mean to” Busfield, according to the warrant.

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According to the warrant, their mother claims that the film crew used to hand out iPads for parents to watch from a separate location during filming, a practice that stopped after Busfield was hired.

In a conversation with investigators, the mother claimed, “Timothy said he didn’t really like his parents having iPads on set, that it wasn’t standard process, and that he didn’t encourage it,” according to the warrant.

According to the warrant, Busfield allegedly told police that his parents were upset that their son had been replaced with a younger actor he had auditioned for. Shortly after, he received a call from Warner Bros. saying they were investigating the complaint.

“Timothy stated that he conducted the investigation because Warner Bros. conducted an external investigation through another company. Timothy was told that there were complaints about him from juveniles. Timothy confirmed that the juveniles involved were (Victim 1) and (Victim 2),” the document states.

The actor also claimed that he was told by an actress on the show that the alleged victim’s mother “wanted revenge,” according to the warrant.

When asked by investigators if he had ever picked up or tickled the boys, Busfield said he “very likely did” because he wanted a “playful environment,” the complaint said.

Busfield told investigators that contact on set was “something that would never be tolerated.” “No way. There’s no protocol. I mean, I’m always around people, right? That would be in front of my parents.”

“There was never a weird moment about it. I don’t really remember picking up those boys,” he continued according to the warrant. “I remember picking up the boy who was following them. I picked him up and he was giggling and it was like he was ready for action.”

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However, Busfield said he and his wife had relationships with the boys and their parents “outside of work,” including “buying them Christmas presents and attending some social events together.”

Throughout the investigation, the production assistant claimed that the SL was not supervised and that no teachers on set were tracking the children, but this was notable because there were times when minors rode skateboards on the live set.

“I believe Timothy had an opportunity to be alone with SL while he was lying on the bed at the TV,” the officer said in the warrant, after speaking with several people involved in the production.

Following the results of an internal investigation by Warner Bros., it was documented in December 2024 that executive producer and director Tim Busfield “entered and kissed an underage male in the face during a haircut, after an individual claimed to have witnessed an incident in a trailer for Hair & Makeup.”

“My training and experience is that pedophiles, like Timothy, often infiltrate families in a trusted role. As a producer, Timothy took advantage of a busy movie set to cover up his play by tickling and touching SL’s penis and buttocks,” Officer Brown wrote in the warrant.

“He invited his family to Offset’s gatherings and his wife bought him Christmas presents to foster intimacy and make the SL feel special and dependent. This is classic grooming to silence suspicions by eroding boundaries, isolating the victim, and blending abuse into normalcy,” Brown continued. “This dual tactic of glamorizing the parents while secretly assaulting the child creates a web of complicity that is difficult to unravel and delays detection as families trust the abuser’s façade.”

Busfield also faces previous sexual assault charges dating back to 1994, according to the warrant.

Representatives for Mr. Busfield and Mr. Gilbert did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453 or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. Our hotline is available 24/7 in over 170 languages.