Actor-director Timothy Busfield is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, according to an arrest warrant issued by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). He allegedly engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with twin 11-year-old boys. One of the children says that this disturbing activity began when they were just seven years old. The boys were child actors on the TV show The Cleaning Lady, which Busfield directed between 2022 and 2025.
According to People magazine, it all started in November 2024 when “a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) alerted police about alleged sexual abuse.”
The boys’ parents said that Busfield immediately became close with the children, asking them to call him “Uncle Tim.” Their father said that after rumors surfaced that Busfield was “handsy” with women and children on the set, they asked the boys if anyone had ever made them uncomfortable or touched them inappropriately. They initially suggested that “Uncle Tim” would often tickle them.
Here’s more from People:
The parents were advised by an attorney to take the children to UNMH, where they say professionals suggested the boys ‘were groomed,’ per the warrant.
Officer [Marvin Kirk] Brown said the siblings had not disclosed any sexual contact at this time, but both claimed Busfield ‘would tickle them on the stomach and legs.’
It was then determined that the case did not meet their acceptance criteria at the time.
On Oct. 3, 2025, the mother filed a police report and told Child Protective Services that ‘her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Timothy from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.’ However, according to the warrant, she was told that because physical abuse had not occurred, nothing could be done.
The mother told authorities on Sept. 2, 2025, and Sept. 22, 2025, [one of the boys] told his counselor that Busfield inappropriately touched him.
Here’s where it gets really gross. A therapist mentioned in the warrant that one of the boys had moderate post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety due to inappropriate touching. He eventually began having nightmares and waking up scared and confessed that “Uncle Tim” had “had touched and rubbed his penis 3 or 4 times.” The child would apparently hurry to hide behind his dad after filming scenes and said he was afraid to tell anyone about the touching because Busfield was the director and he was afraid he’d get mad at him.
The boys’ mom claims that when they initially began working on the show, the crew would give the parents iPads so they could watch everything that went on, but that stopped when Busfield was hired.
Busfield claims the parents were just mad that their kids were replaced with a younger actor for the final season of the show and want “revenge.” However, when investigators asked him if he tickled the boys, he said that it was “highly likely” because the set was a “playful environment.”
When asked about touching on the set, Busfield said it’s not allowed, but he admitted, “There is no protocol. I mean, I’m always around people, right? It would be, you know, in front of the parents. There would never be a weird moment about it. I don’t really remember picking those boys up. I remember picking up the boy who followed them. I’d pick him up, and he’d be giggling, and that would sort of get him ready to act.”
He also admitted to having a relationship with the family outside of work and would buy the boys Christmas gifts and try to hang out with them socially. Another witness said they once saw Busfield kiss one of the children on the face in the hair and makeup trailer.
Officer Brown wrote in the warrant, “I believe Timothy had the opportunity to be alone with [one of the victims] while he was lying in the bed on the TV set.” He also accused the director of “grooming.”
“In my training and experience, pedophiles often infiltrate families under a trusted role, like Timothy, who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets to tickle and touch [one of the victims] on his penis and buttocks, masking it as play,” he wrote. “He would invite the family to off-set gatherings, with his wife buying Christmas gifts to foster closeness, making [one of the victims] 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.”
Busfield’s wife, who is mentioned in the statement, is actress Melissa Gilbert. The couple reportedly lives on 14 acres in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Gilbert recently deleted her social media profiles. She is not accused of wrongdoing, but the couple’s current whereabouts are unknown.
The warrant was issued on Friday, January 9, and APD confirmed on Tuesday that it has now asked the U.S Marshals to get involved with the manhunt for the actor.
This isn’t Busfield’s first brush with these types of allegations. The actor — who is known for his roles on shows like thirtysomething and The West Wing, as well as movies like Field of Dreams — was accused of sexual assault on the set of the movie Little Big League. The accuser was a 17-year-old girl. Busfield initially denied her accusations, but he eventually settled with her and was ordered to pay her legal fees.
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