An arrest warrant has been issued against actor Timothy Busfield over allegations of inappropriate conduct involving a minor on a television set.
The 68-year-old Emmy-winning actor, renowned for his performances in “The West Wing” and “Field of Dreams,” is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor, along with a count of child abuse.
According to the arrest warrant, a child has accused Busfield of touching him inappropriately in private areas while on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” a show Busfield directs.
The alleged victim, who was seven years old at the time, claims the incidents started in November 2022 and occurred five or six times between filming sessions, as reported by KRQE.
Another child has also accused Busfield of inappropriate touching, according to the complaint.
Investigations by Albuquerque police commenced in November 2024 after staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital raised concerns that two children might have been groomed on the set, as noted in court documents shared by KOAT.
According to the report, the children in that case did not accuse Busfield of sexual contact, but said that he would tickle them on the stomach and legs.
The warrant issued for Busfield’s arrest this week alleged that Busfield ‘would tell the children to call him ‘Uncle Tim’ and would tickle them on the stomach and legs, despite them not liking the tickling.’
An arrest warrant has been issued for actor Timothy Busfield for allegedly inappropriately touching a minor on a TV show set
Busfield (pictured with his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert) is being sought by cops and is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse
Busfield pictured starring as character Danny Concannon on hit TV show The West Wing
A warrant has been issued for Busfield’s arrest in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, and no court or jail records indicate he has been taken into custody.
According to a complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, the alleged abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024.
At least one of the children in the case was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder following the alleged abuse, according to the complaint.
Busfield has been married to Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert since 2013.
The pair celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in April 2025, and Gilbert said in a social media post at the time that their marriage was ‘perfect.’
’12 years of true partnership, love, laughter, compassion, commitment, passion, laughter, cooking, kids, grandchildren, chickens, dogs, creating homes, films, plays, television. 12 years of writing together, traveling, cuddling, delicious meals, romantic getaways, spooning, reflecting, meditating, praying,’ she wrote.
Gilbert told PEOPLE that they tied the knot soon after beginning their relationship, saying that ‘it just seemed right and inevitable’ that she would marry Busfield after their first date.
‘It sounds cliché to say it, but it really was like getting hit with a thunderbolt,’ she said. ‘The next morning when I woke up, my first thought was, ‘I’m going to marry him,’ and then my next thought was, ‘You’re a crazy person.”
Busfield has been married to Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert since 2013
Gilbert said her relationship with Busfield was ‘the easiest’ she had ever been in.
‘It’s all of the good things that a relationship should be,’ she said.
‘There is rarely drama, and if there is drama, it’s not caused by us. It comes from outside, and we handle it in a much different way.’
She described their relationship last year: ‘We have respect for one another’s opinions, respect for one another’s pasts, respect for one another’s abilities and this tacit agreement that we never really discussed that just happened, that we are partners in everything, in every decision, in every idea, in every move.
‘We are one in making those decisions, and neither one of us is better at anything than the other or greater than anything than the other.’
