Actor Timothy Busfield recently made a somber appearance in a New Mexico courtroom as he faced public scrutiny over child sex abuse charges for the first time.
The 68-year-old, known for his role in The West Wing, appeared before the judge wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, standing with his hands clasped.
Notably absent was Busfield’s wife, Melissa Gilbert, famed for her role in Little House on the Prairie, as the proceedings took place.
During the brief two-minute session, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Felicia Blea-Rivera informed the Emmy-winning actor that he would be denied bail.
Prosecutors had previously filed a motion aiming to block Busfield’s release on bond, as the case transitions to a judge in the Second Judicial District Court.
Judge Blea-Rivera granted the motion, addressing Busfield directly, “You will remain in custody without bond. Your subsequent hearing is scheduled within the next five business days,” she stated to a visibly subdued Busfield.
The actor is facing various felony charges, including two counts of sexually assaulting twin boys, and a newly-filed charge involving a 16-year-old female victim.
Wednesday’s hearing is the first time Busfield has been seen since he released a shocking video addressing the allegations.
Busfield, who has denied any wrongdoing, said in a video shared with TMZ that he drove 2,000 miles to hand himself in to police in Albuquerque on Saturday.
Actor Timothy Busfield appeared somber-faced as he appeared in court before a New Mexico judge on child sex abuse charges on Wednesday afternoon, as shown above
‘I will confront these lies, ‘ the actor said. ‘They’re all lies, and I did not do anything. ‘I’m gonna fight it with a great team, and I know I’m going to be exonerated. I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.’
His lawyer, Larry Stein, also told the Daily Mail on Wednesday: ‘Tim Busfield denies the allegations in the criminal complaint and maintains they are completely false.
‘As a voluntary step, he submitted to an independent polygraph examination regarding those allegations and passed.’
The actor and producer was charged last week with sexually assaulting twin boys on the set of TV series The Cleaning Lady from 2022 until 2024.
Then this week, he was accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl while she was auditioning for a show.
The alleged victim’s father told police Busfield groped the aspiring actress ‘several years ago’ at the theater he founded in Sacramento, California.
‘While auditioning for the defendant at B Street Threatre, the 16-year-old reported that (he) kissed her and put his hands down her pants and touched her privates,’ the motion states.
Busfield allegedly ‘begged the family to not report to law enforcement if he received therapy,’ and the alleged victim’s father, being a ‘therapist himself, thought at the time that was the best thing to do.’
Busfield was slapped with sex abuse charges this week – and reports claim that his wife, Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, was listening in on speakerphone as he spoke with police about the allegations back in November 2025. (Pictured: Busfield and Gilbert in 2023)
As Busfield turned himself to New Mexico authorities, heavily armed US Marshals raided his upstate New York home he shares with his wife.
In exclusive photos obtained by Daily Mail, Marshal agents were seen forcibly entering the door of the tiny home in Highland Lake in the Catskill Mountains.
The raid, witnessed by the Daily Mail, took about 30-minutes as agents armed with assault rifles and tactical gear used a battering ram to knock down the front door.
No one was apprehended at the home and it is unclear if Gilbert was with her husband when he turned himself in to Albuquerque authorities.
According to a criminal complaint filed last week in New Mexico, an investigation into Busfield was opened in November 2024 when staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital called police and reported seven-year-old children potentially being groomed on the studio set of the TV show, The Cleaning Lady.
Busfield was the director and executive producer of the Fox show for three seasons before its final episode on June 2025.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by the Daily Mail, Busfield allegedly told the children, ‘to call him Uncle Tim,’ and ‘would tickle them on the stomach and legs, despite them not liking the tickling.’
Busfield (pictured in his mugshot) is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County, before a hearing in front of a magistrate judge scheduled for Wednesday
The children did not allege sexual touching at the time, but in October 2025 one of the parents reported to Child Protective Services that her child disclosed alleged sexual abuse by Busfield, the warrant said.
The child told a therapist that Busfield touched his ‘genitalia’ and ‘bottom’ while in a bedroom on the set of the TV show, according to the affidavit.
When he was questioned by detectives, Busfield said he had ‘playful’ contact with the children on his set, but denied any wrongdoing.
When Busfield was interviewed by police about the allegations on November 3, 2025, his arrest warrant said that his wife, Gilbert, listened to the phone call over speakerphone.
Busfield reportedly told investigators that the allegations against him were a revenge plot by the parents of the boy and his twin brother because he didn’t invite them back to the show.
