Deadline has reported that the criminal case against Timothy Busfield (Designated Survivor, The West Wing) has been officially dismissed. Busfield was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse.
The case was dismissed by New Mexico State District Court Judge Joseph Montano, due to the prosecutor’s improper handling of the proceedings, that resulted in errors that affected the grand jury process. A hearing was held on September 25th, in response to Busfield’s legal team, filing a motion to dismiss the indictment, on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct and the failure of the state to provide a fair, unbiased proceeding, to which the judge ended up ultimately agreeing with. Busfield’s legal team is lead by attorney Amanda Fayerberg.
The alleged incidents happened during production of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady on the New Mexico set and involved two minor boys. Busfield had allegations surrounding touching the two boys “poop” and “pee” area. Busfield was first charged with the case this past January. A warrant was out for Busfield’s arrest by the Albuquerque Police on January 9th. Busfield turned himself in to authorities on January 13th, with Warner Bros. Television agreeing to corporate with law enforcement. Shortly after the first claim was charged, another claim of alleged child sex abuse was charged to Busfield, days after the first claim. The indictment was confirmed by a grand jury on February 6th to move forward with the trial, charging Busfield for four counts of alleged child sex abuse.
The initial matter regarding the alleged incidents on set had already brought up to local authorities in the past, back in 2024. The case ended up not being further pursed. However, the reports of the incidents were later then disclosed to a counselor, and because of this, the Albuquerque Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit had officially reopened the case in 2025.
Busfield was credited as an executive producer of the show, even directing some of the episodes of the series as well. The Cleaning Lady was cancelled last June after four seasons. The show had just premiered it’s season four finale. Days after the finale, the announcement was released that the show was officially cancelled.
Busfield’s wife, Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie, Switched at Birth), did a interview with Good Morning America this past April, speaking publicly about the charges her husband was facing, believing that he would be exonerated. Busfield’s former cast member from the show from Thritysomething, Ken Olin (Brothers & Sisters, In Pursuit of Honor), had also expressed his support for Busfield this past January, when the news of the charges were first released.
Busfield also has already been accused of other alleged sexual misconduct in the past that happened, once back in 1994 and another claim in 2012. A separate alleged incident also was reported in 1999, involving a sixteen year old girl. The incident happened when the girl was auditioning for a role with Busfield directly. The allegations included that he had allegedly kissed her, put his hands down her pants, and touched her private parts, according to the court documents detailing the statements. The father of the victim had initially wanted to report the incident to authorities at the time, to which Busfield allegedly had profusely apologized, further reiterating to the family he would agree to seek professional therapy if the alleged incident was not reported. The family did end up agreeing to this, but later reported the case at beginning of this year when the news broke of the Busfield’s alleged incidents on The Cleaning Lady.
Even though the indictment has been dismissed, the district attorney office still has the legal right to either file new criminal charges or present the criminal case to a new grand jury. This is due to the judge dismissing the case without prejudge. The state has the legal right to start over because the case was dismissed due to procedural errors, rather than the final ruling of Busfield.
The district attorney’s office has already stated that they currently evaluating all options now to see how they will move forward the case instead. Sam Bregman is elected official in charge of Bernalillo County District Attorney Office, who works alongside the Chief Deputy District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, and Assistant District Attorney Greer Staley.
There has been no statement from Busfield, the legal team of Busfield, and Busfield’s representatives since the news of the case dismissal. Stayed tuned for more updates on the development of this matter.