Busfield was arrested last month after he was accused of sexually abusing two boys on the set of a show he directed. He’s denied the allegations.
By Winston Cho
A grand jury in New Mexico has returned an indictment against actor and director Timothy Busfield, according to a review of the court docket.
Busfield was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child. He’s been accused of sexually abusing two boys on the set of the former Fox/Warner Bros. Television series The Cleaning Lady.
“As with all criminal proceedings, Mr. Busfield is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law,” said Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman in a statement. “This case will proceed through the judicial process and is expected to move forward to trial.”
Lawyers for Busfield didn’t immediately return a request for comment. He’s denied allegations of sexual misconduct.
The charges, third-degree felonies in New Mexico, relate to alleged touching on two separate occasions, once in October 2022 and again in September 2023. Each count carries a minimum sentence of three years, which can’t be suspended or deferred.
After a hearing last month, Busfield was released from jail while he awaits trial. Prosecutors sought to keep him detained, arguing that the actor poses an ongoing danger to the community. Under the order, he may not contact the alleged victims or their families, discuss the case with witnesses, or have any unsupervised contact with minors.
So far, Busfield’s defense has revolved around arguments that the parents of the children were looking for vengeance against Busfield for recasting them in the fourth season of the Fox series after they aged out of their roles. “This entire criminal complaint is making good on that promise,” said Amber Fayerberg, a lawyer for Busfield, during last month’s hearing. “They got a civil attorney first in California, who then interacted with WB. They didn’t contact the police until WB said there’s nothing behind these allegations. Translation: We’re not giving you any money. Then, they went to the police.”
The victims’ father, Ronald Rodis, was a major subject of the hearing, as was a Warner Bros. internal investigation that found no evidence of misconduct. It’s been used as ammunition to undermine the allegations, which were reported to law enforcement by the victims’ therapist and doctor.
Alan Caudillo, The Cleaning Lady‘s director of photography, testified that he never saw Busfield tickle the children or talk to them without supervision, adding that he found Rodis “creepy” and “very aggressive.”
The victims and their parents were paid roughly $1.5 million, or roughly $60,000 per episode, for appearing on the show, Caudillo estimated.
Busfield has faced allegations of sexual misconduct. In one alleged incident in 1994, a 17-year-old extra on Little Big League, which he directed, accused him of assault, alleging he served her alcohol, groped her and attempted to initiate sex in his trailer. In another 2012 incident, an adult woman alleged he assaulted her in a Los Angeles movie theater. Busfield allegedly slipped his hands under her clothes and touched her genitals, per court documents. Law enforcement ultimately didn’t pursue a criminal case due to insufficient evidence.
After he was arrested, the father of a 16-year-old girl reported to law enforcement that Busfield groped his daughter when she was auditioning for a role roughly 25 years ago at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California. He allegedly “kissed her and put his hands down her pants and touched her privates,” a court filing said. Busfield is a co-founder of the theater company and its former artistic director.
The case will be prosecuted by the special victims’ unit. Bregman said that “protecting children remains a top priority for his office.”
