Timothy Busfield’s accuser originally told cops: ‘He’s never touched me’
Audiotape shared with a New Mexico court by Timothy Busfield‘s attorneys reveals that the two child actors at the center of sex abuse allegations against the 68-year-old Hollywood veteran initially told police in 2024 that he never touched them inappropriately.
In the audio, first published by TMZ on Monday, the boys, who are twin brothers, denied that the “West Wing” and “Thirtysomething” star ever touched their genitals while he directed them in the Fox TV drama, “The Cleaning Lady.”
The boys shared a role in the TV series. Referred to only as VL and SL in court documents, they were asked by an Albuquerque police officer in November 2024: “So, you know what is right and wrong, right? You know no one can touch your private areas?” In response, both boys said, “yes” to knowing that such touching is wrong. When the officer followed up by asking if Busfield ever touched their private parts, one boy responded: “Yeah, but he doesn’t touch those parts.” The second boy said: “No, he’s never touched me … never.”
Busfield’s attorneys have come out forcefully in defense of their client, initially to secure his release from custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County, outside Albuquerque, where he is being held without bail. Busfield is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a detention hearing to determine if he will remain locked up as the case unfolds in court. Last week, Busfield surrendered to New Mexico authorities to face allegations that he sexually abused the boys, now 11, during the production of the Fox TV drama.
The criminal case against Busfield, the husband of “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert, stems from new allegations the boys’ mother reported to Child Protective Services in October 2025. At the time, according to a detective’s affidavit in support of an arrest warrant for Busfield, the mother said that both her sons had been groomed and sexually abused by Busfield. One of the boys also produced allegations against Busfield that he didn’t share the year before. He told a therapist that Busfield had touched his touched his genitals and bottom, according to the affidavit. During a police interview, the boy said that the touching occurred while he and Busfield were briefly alone together on a movie set built to look like a bedroom.
Busfield’s attorneys vehemently proclaimed the actor’s innocence in a 19-page motion filed last week. They allege that these sex-abuse charges have “already collapsed under independent scrutiny” while saying that the boys’ parents are using their sons to fabricate the allegations for “financial and retaliatory” reasons.
“The State’s case rests almost entirely on the accounts of two stage parents, whose children were recast from ‘The Cleaning Lady’ in 2024,” the motion said. “These witnesses are not neutral observers. Their allegations emerged only after the loss of the twins’ role — and only after consultation with civil counsel — creating an obvious financial and retaliatory motive.”
The motion then refers to the couple’s “well-documented history of fraud and dishonesty.” Citing court records, the motion said the father is a former attorney who pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and wire-fraud charges related to a multimillion-dollar mortgage-modification scheme in which he used his law license to defraud more than 1,500 homeowners of approximately $6 million. As for the mother, the attorneys said she had been sued multiple times, including for $400,000 in unpaid gambling debts, allegedly passing bad checks and allegedly selling someone a Bentley Convertible GT for $91,000, then trying to illegally repossess it.
In November 2024, Albuquerque police responded to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where the parents had taken her sons on the advice of an attorney. Staff were concerned that the boys were being groomed, according to the affidavit. During a police interview, neither boy said there had been any sexual contact. However, both boys said that Busfield, whom they referred to as “Uncle Tim,” would tickle them on the stomach and legs, even when they didn’t want him to.
According to Busfield’s attorneys, Warner Brothers, the studio that produced “The Cleaning Lady,” commissioned a independent investigation, during which the investigator interviewed core members of the cast and crew, including the director, show runner, script supervisor, two studio teachers, two members of the hair department, producer, parents of a second child actor, two producer’s assistants and the show’s lead actor.
After conducting “an independent, impartial investigation,” the investigator was unable to corroborate any of the sex abuse allegations, the motion said. “In fact, every witness was ‘shocked’ by the allegations that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature or otherwise, especially toward minor children.”
The investigation concluded that Busfield would never have been alone on set with the boys, outside the presence of a parent, a studio teacher or another adult, according to the motion. He also didn’t have the power to replace the boys on the show with another child actor, as alleged by their father. In addition, no one ever heard him tell the boys to call him “Uncle Tim,” while the director of photography told the investigator that the boys’ father, “creeped me out. He was pushy and manipulative. He would force the twins to give me a hug every single time I saw him on set.”
According to the motion, the boy’s mother also was heard telling the show’s lead actor that she would “get her revenge” on Busfield after her sons were not asked to return for the show’s fourth season. The boys’ role on the show was officially recast in September 2024.
The motion also noted the timing of the boys’ parents going to Child Protective Services in October 2025. This CPS report occurred after Warner Brothers had concluded its investigation and issued its final report in September 2025. In its final report, the studio said it found no evidence to support the allegations against Busfield, a conclusion that was consistent with the first interactions that Albuquerque had with the twins, the motion said.