Name: Timothy Busfield to remain free ahead of trial on child sex abuse
Uploaded: 2026-01-21T00:46:11.844Z
Duration: 2 min 52 s
Description: A New Mexico judge ordered the release of actor Timothy Busfield during a pretrial detention hearing on Tuesday. Busfield is accused of inappropriately touching two child actors, which he denies.

A New Mexico judge ordered the release of actor Timothy Busfield during a pretrial detention hearing on Tuesday. Busfield is accused of inappropriately touching two child actors, which he denies.

Santa Fe

Actor Timothy Busfield has been released from jail on his own recognizance by a New Mexico judge while he awaits trial on charges of inappropriately touching two child actors during the filming of 'The Cleaning Lady.' The detention hearing lasted over two hours, with both sides presenting evidence, including statements from a therapist and police interview audio.

The judge noted it is not unusual for young children to delay disclosing abuse. Busfield's wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, attended the hearing, wrote a letter in his support, and was visibly emotional upon his release. Busfield was not required to post bail.

Timothy Busfield to remain free ahead of trial on child sex abuse

A judge in New Mexico ordered actor Timothy Busfield's release from jail during a detention hearing today. He's accused of inappropriately touching two child actors on the set of The Cleaning Lady, which was filmed in the state. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans now joining us with more. You've been following this story, Carter. What were your key takeaways today from the hearing? Well, first of all, this was a detention hearing to determine if he should be held in jail until trial. Normally those go pretty quick, but this felt like a little trial today. It lasted more than two hours, both the prosecution and the defense presenting evidence on both sides of this issue. The prosecution saying that a therapist who talked to the children in question here said that the children admit that Timothy Busfield had touched them in their private areas. And then you had the defense playing audio from an earlier interview with police where the kids said that never happened. So you know what's right and wrong, right? You know, no one could touch your private areas. Yeah, but he didn't touch them. He doesn't touch your private parts, okay. Officers are not supposed to speak with children, right? Because of the power dynamic. And they want to make sure they're getting a reliable disclosure. So it's not uncommon that the kids did not disclose at that time or were ready to disclose at that time to a police officer that showed up at their house. Well the judge agreed with the prosecutor on that point and did say that it is not uncommon, especially when you're dealing with very young children, for it to take some time for them to actually get comfortable enough to tell authorities the actual truth. And the first interview with police was done about a year before they admitted that they had been touched, according to that therapist. And Busfield, by the way, released not on bail, but on his own recognizance. So I'm curious, you know, so many intricacies to this. And a lot of people may not know, Busfield is married to actress Melissa Gilbert, best known for her role as Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie when she was a child actor. Was she in court today? If so, what did she say about the charges against her husband? She was in court today and she was watching intently. You could see her in the audience. And she wrote a letter in support of her husband. And one of the things that she said is that he has dedicated his spiritual self to always being of service to others and that he has the strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known. When they released him today, she burst into tears. Carter Evans. Thank you, Carter.

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