Timothy Busfield drove 2,000 miles to New Mexico to turn himself in after prosecutors charged him with child abuse and sexual contact with a minor last Friday.
“The West Wing” actor maintains that the charges against him are “all lies” in a video obtained by TMZ and plans to fight them with “a great team.”
“I’m going to confront these lies,” he said. “They are horrible. They are all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys.”
Busfield was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and an open count of child abuse, stemming from an investigation into his relationship with child actors he directed on Fox’s “The Cleaning Lady.” He directed six episodes of the series from 2022 to 2024 and executive produced 14 episodes.
Prosecutors said that the child actors were seven and eight years old at the time of the abuse in 2022, and their parents reported the crimes to Albuquerque police two years later.
“I’m gonna fight it with a great team, and I’m gonna be exonerated,” Busfield added in the video. “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 back to work. I love everybody for supporting me, thank you.”
The investigation reportedly began in November 2024, when a doctor called police to the University of New Mexico Hospital. The responding officer spoke to the parents of two twin boys who were actors on the series. The “Field of Dreams” star allegedly told the boys to call him “Uncle Tim” and “grew closer to the boys” while working with them.
Their mother told the officer that she had asked her then-11-year-old “if anyone had ever touched them in a manner that made them feel uncomfortable,” according to the affidavit. “The children responded by asking, ‘You mean like Uncle Tim?’”
According to court documents, the children said that “Uncle Tim” would tickle them on the stomach and legs and also said they had been touched inappropriately by Busfield in their private areas while on set.
Busfield has since claimed that the accusations were “revenge” for the twins not appearing in the series’ final season. He admitted that he “highly likely” picked up or tickled the children on set but not in a “weird” or private manner.
NBC was set to air an episode of “Law & Order: SVU,” featuring the actor, but they have since shelved it.
The post Timothy Busfield Turns Himself Over to Police, Denies Child Sex Abuse Charges: ‘They’re All Lies’ appeared first on TheWrap.
