Timothy Busfield is being investigated over allegations of child sex abuse and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Timothy Busfield is being investigated over allegations of child sex abuse.
An arrest warrant has been issued for the West Wing actor – who is married to Melissa Gilbert – over two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse after it was alleged he engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old siblings.
According to documents issued by the Albuquerque Police Department and obtained by People magazine, one of the alleged victims was just seven years old when he claimed the abuse began.
An investigation opened on 1 November, 2024, after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) alerted police, and the victims’ parents told officer Marvin Kirk Brown, who issued the arrest warrant, that the children had met the 68-year-old star on the set of The Cleaning Lady, where Busfield was a director.
The children’s parents claimed Busfield “grew closer to the boys” when he joined the FOX series, which ran from January 2022 until June last year.
The warrant stated: “It was reported that Timothy would tell his children to call him ‘Uncle Tim.’ “
The parents told police that “they both discovered that there were allegations against Timothy of sexual assault against both women and minors.”
After the father was told “there had been multiple rumours that Timothy had been ‘handsy’ with women,” the siblings’ mother quizzed her sons as to whether anyone had ever touched them in a manner that made them feel uncomfortable.”
The warrant continued: “The children allegedly responded by asking, ‘You mean like Uncle Tim?’ “
An attorney advised the couple to take the children to UNMH, where professionals suggested the boys had been “groomed”, and while they hadn’t disclosed any sexual contact at that time, both claimed Busfield “would tickle them on the stomach and legs.”
It was determined at that time that the case didn’t meet their acceptance criteria, but on 3 October, 2025, the mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services “her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Timothy from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.”
However, the warrant stated she was told that because physical abuse had not occurred, nothing could be done.
One of the boys, identified only as SL, had told his counsellor on 2 and 22 September last year that he had been touched inappropriately by Busfield.
A therapist had diagnosed one of the alleged victims with moderate post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety at the age of 10 following claims of “inappropriate touching.”
The therapist told how the child – who had displayed behavioural issues including bed wetting – had been “having nightmares about the director touching him and waking up scared,” and claimed Busfield “had touched and rubbed his penis three or four times and appeared to be ashamed.”
According to the document, the boy told authorities he didn’t come forward “because he did not want to be mean to” Busfield.
The actor-and-director allegedly told police the parents were upset their sons had been replaced by a younger actor and shortly afterwards, he received a call informing him Warner Bros. were investigating a complaint.
He also claimed an actress on the show that the mother “wanted revenge”.
Asked by cops if he had ever picked up or tickled the boys, Busfield allegedly admitted it was “highly likely that he would have” because he wanted “a playful environment.”
He added of touching on set: “It’s not allowed at all.
“There is no, there’s no protocol. I mean, I’m always around people, right? It would be, you know, in front of the parents.”
Throughout the investigation, a production assistant alleged SL would be unsupervised and his teacher on set wouldn’t keep track of him, notably leading to an incident where he rode a skateboard through a live set.
The investigating officer wrote in the warrant: “I believe Timothy had the opportunity to be alone with SL while he was lying in the bed on the TV set…
“In my training and experience, paedophiles often infiltrate families under a trusted role, like Timothy, who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets to tickle and touch SL on his penis and buttocks, masking it as play.
“He would invite the family to off-set gatherings, with his wife buying Christmas gifts to foster closeness, making SL feel special and dependent— classic grooming to erode boundaries, isolate the victim, and silence suspicions by blending abuse into normalcy.
“This dual tactic, charming parents while secretly violating the child, builds a web of complicity that is hard to unravel, delaying detection, as families trust the abuser’s facade.”
Arrest warrant issued for West Wing star Timothy Busfield
