Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield was released Tuesday evening from a New Mexico jail while he awaits trial on child sex abuse charges.
Bernalillo County District Court Judge David A. Murphy ruled at a hearing earlier in the day that Busfield, 68, could be freed on his own recognizance. He left the Albuquerque detention center hours after the judge's ruling.
Busfield turned himself in last week in connection with one count of child abuse and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. He appeared at Tuesday's hearing shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Bernalillo County Deputy District Savannah Brandenburg-Koch argued that Busfield was dangerous and that there were no conditions of release that could secure the community's safety.
According to a criminal complaint, the charges stem from allegations from the parents of two boys who appeared on "The Cleaning Lady," a TV series in which Busfield acted and directed. The parents accused him of allegedly touching the children on multiple occasions on the set of the Fox series, and the boys reported that he had touched them on their intimate parts.
Busfield has rejected the allegations. One of his lawyers said the accusations were part of a revenge plot "manufactured" by the boys' parents after the children lost their roles.
The boys made the disclosures to a therapist and a doctor, Brandenburg-Koch said. She described the disclosures as specific, detailed and "not exaggerated."
"There's a pattern of his conduct," she said.
Brandenburg-Koch cited past allegations of inappropriate touching and sexual assault made against Busfield by other women and a teenager. Those allegations did not result in criminal charges.
Murphy, the judge, said he put little weight in those allegations — which he said did not involve children — because they had not been vetted. In deciding to release Busfield, he cited Busfield's lack of a criminal history and his decision to surrender to authorities after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
In court, Busfield's attorneys cited affidavits from people who worked with him on the set of "The Cleaning Lady" and said they saw no inappropriate contact between him and the children. And they played audio recordings of the children’s interviews with Albuquerque police in which they said he did not touch them inappropriately.
Busfield told investigators in an interview that another actor on the show told him the boys' mother was upset with him because her children were not brought back for the show's final season, according to a transcript of the interview included in a defense filing. Busfield alleged that the mother wanted revenge, according to the transcript.
According to the complaint, one of the boys told police that the first time Busfield touched him was when he was 7 years old and the second time was when he was 8. The complaint says the abuse is alleged to have happened between November 2022 and spring 2024.
Warner Bros. commissioned a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the complaints, but the firm found no evidence to corroborate the claims. The claims included allegations that Busfield kissed a child on the face as he was getting a haircut in the hair and makeup trailer.
Christina McGovern, the investigator from Solomon Law who led the Warner Bros. probe, said in a statement that, based on the evidence gathered, she found no evidence that he “engaged in inappropriate conduct or that he was ever alone” with the boys on the set.
Brandenburg-Koch said that investigation did not include "necessary witnesses" and was not reliable.
"The Cleaning Lady" ended last year after four seasons. Busfield is also known for appearances in "The West Wing," "Thirtysomething" and "Field of Dreams." He was set to appear in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios film "You Deserve Each Other," but he will be removed via editing, a source close to the production told NBC News.
Busfield’s wife, actor Melissa Gilbert, attended Tuesday’s detention hearing after having submitted a letter of support saying her husband “has the strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known.”
“He has dedicated his spiritual self to always being of service to others. He starts every day with kindness and compassion,” she said.
She could be seen in tears in the courtroom after the judge announced his decision.
Busfield is next due in court Jan. 29.
