Timothy Busfield was indicted Friday in New Mexico on four counts of child sexual abuse, two weeks after he was released on those charges.
Busfield, 68, is accused of molesting a 7-year-old boy on the set of the Fox TV show “Cleaning Women,” of which she was a director. He vehemently denies the charges.
Busfield turned himself in to authorities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 13, several days after the warrant was issued for his arrest. At a hearing a week later, the Bernalillo County District Attorney tried to detain him until the trial began, but the judge denied the request.
The prosecutor’s office indicated at that hearing that it intends to take the case to a grand jury for indictment. Mr. Busfield is next scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on the charges. The case is being handled by the Special Victims Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“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 Friday. “District Attorney Sam Bregman emphasized that the protection of children remains his office’s top priority. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office remains committed to doing everything possible to protect children and ensure justice for victims.”
Busfield’s lawyers claim the alleged victims’ parents pursued the charges in revenge for their sons being kicked off the show.
“The criminal charges were brought not by the evidence, but by the efforts of the parents, who have a documented record of deception and financial exploitation to create leverage after losing a six-figure source of income,” the defense argued in a motion against pretrial detention.
Larry Stein, Mr. Busfield’s civil attorney, said in a statement Friday that the charges were not unexpected.
“As they say, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich,” he said. “What is extremely concerning is that the district attorney is choosing to proceed with a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial.”
Stein also claimed that the Jan. 20 hearing “revealed a critical weakness in the state’s evidence.”
“This prosecution appears to be driven by something other than facts and law,” he added. “Mr. Busfield intends to fight these charges every step of the way and looks forward to testing the state’s case in open court, where the evidence matters, not behind closed doors.”
