Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / BREAKING: Actor Timothy Busfield Indicted on Four Counts of Child Sex Abuse | Crime Alert 02.06.26

Transcript

BREAKING: Actor Timothy Busfield Indicted on Four Counts of Child Sex Abuse | Crime Alert 02.06.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update Breaking Crime News Now. I'm Drew Nelson,
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  Speaker 1: Breaking Now. A new Mexico grand jury indicts actor Timothy
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  Speaker 1: Bussfield on four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child.
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  Speaker 1: The indictment announced by Bernard Leo County District Attorney Sam
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  Speaker 1: Bregman in Albuquerque. Prosecutors say all four charges are third
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  Speaker 1: degree felonies with up to three years behind bars, plus
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  Speaker 1: fines and post release supervision. Busfield, age sixty eight, is
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  Speaker 1: accused of inappropriate sexual contact with two young boys who
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  Speaker 1: were child actors on the Fox TV series The Cleaning Lady,
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  Speaker 1: which employed Busfield as a director. Investigators say the alleged
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  Speaker 1: conduct occurred on set during periods between late twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: two and early twenty four. Busfield's attorneys accused the boy's
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  Speaker 1: parents of fabricating the story after the children's roles were recast.
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  Speaker 1: Busfield turned himself into authorities in Albuquerque last month after
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  Speaker 1: an arrest warrant was issued, and was later released on
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  Speaker 1: his own recognissance. A judge ruled that Busfield does not
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  Speaker 1: pose a danger to the community, but did impose strict conditions.
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  Speaker 1: He is barred from contacting the alleged victims or their families,
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  Speaker 1: prohibited from possessing weapons, and is not allowed unsupervised contact
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  Speaker 1: with any minors while the case moves forward. Busfield has
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  Speaker 1: repeatedly denied the allegations. In video obtained by our partners
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  Speaker 1: at TMZ, recorded shortly before he surrendered, Busfield directly addressed
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  Speaker 1: the accusations, I'm going.
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  Speaker 2: To confront these lies. They're horrible. They're all lies, and
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  Speaker 2: I did not do anything to those little boys, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm I'm gonna fight it. I'm going to fight it
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  Speaker 2: with a great team, and I'm gonna be exonerated. I
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  Speaker 2: know i am, because this is all so wrong and
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  Speaker 2: all lies. So hang in there and hopefully I'm out
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  Speaker 2: real soon and back back to work. And I love
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  Speaker 2: everybody for supporting me. Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Busfield's attorney, Larry Stein, has called the indictment not unexpected,
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  Speaker 1: arguing the case is fundamentally flawed. Stein claims prosecutors are
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  Speaker 1: pushing forward despite what he describes as gaps in the evidence,
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  Speaker 1: and he says the defense is prepared to challenge the
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  Speaker 1: allegations in open court. During a detention hearing last month,
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  Speaker 1: prosecutors told the judge the children's disclosures were detailed and consistent.
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  Speaker 1: The defense countered with testimony from crew members who said
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  Speaker 1: they never observed inappropriate conduct on set. Busfield's lawyers also
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  Speaker 1: point to an independent investigation commissioned by Warner Brothers, which
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  Speaker 1: they say found no corroborating evidence. Prosecutors have referenced past
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  Speaker 1: accusations raised against Busfield by other individuals, though none resulted
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  Speaker 1: in criminal charges. The judge overseeing the case said he
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  Speaker 1: placed little weight on those claims. Busfield is widely known
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  Speaker 1: for his work on the West Wing, Field of Dreams,
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  Speaker 1: thirty something, and Revenge of the Nerds. Within days of
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  Speaker 1: the arrest warrant becoming public, he was dropped by his
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  Speaker 1: talent agency, Innovative Artists. NBC pulled an episode of Law
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  Speaker 1: and Order Special Victims Unit that had already been filmed
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  Speaker 1: but was air with Busfield appearing as a guest star.
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  Speaker 1: The episode has been reshot with actor David Zeis replacing Busfield.
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  Speaker 1: Busfield's wife, actress and former Little House on the Prairie
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  Speaker 1: star Melissa Gilbert, issued a statement saying her focuses on
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  Speaker 1: supporting her husband and caring for their family as they
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  Speaker 1: navigate what she describes as an extremely difficult moment. She
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  Speaker 1: says she will address the public at a later time
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  Speaker 1: if and when that becomes appropriate. For more on the
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  Speaker 1: case of Timothy Bussfield joined Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
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  Speaker 1: at our new time six pm Eastern on Sirius ex
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  Speaker 1: Sam Triumph Channel one eleven and streaming exclusively on Fox
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  Speaker 1: one for the first twenty four hours. And for the
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  Speaker 1: latest crime and justice news, follow Crime Alert's hourly update
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  Speaker 1: on your favorite podcast app. With his Crime Alert, I'm
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  Speaker 1: Drew Nelson.