West Wing actor Timothy Busfield faces child sex abuse charges

An arrest warrant has been issued for actor Timothy Busfield for allegedly inappropriately touching a minor on a TV show set. 

The Emmy award-winning actor, 68, is best known for his roles in The West Wing and Field of Dreams, and has been married to Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert since 2013.

Busfield, who has three children with two of his ex wives, is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. 

According to a warrant for his arrest, an investigation into Busfield was opened in November 2024 when staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital called police and reported children potentially being groomed on the set of the TV show 'The Cleaning Lady', which Busfield directs. 

An officer reportedly spoke with the parents of two child actors on the set of the show, and Busfield allegedly 'grew closer to the boys' during their time on set, per a criminal complaint filed last week in New Mexico. 

Busfield allegedly told the children 'to call him Uncle Tim', and the criminal complaint said he 'would tickle them on the stomach and legs, despite them not liking the tickling.' 

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 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 first reported by KTLA.  

According to the affidavit, Busfield told an officer that he had 'playful' contact with the children on his set, but denied any wrongdoing. 

He allegedly suggested that the allegations were due to the parents wanting 'revenge' on him after their children were not asked back for the show's final season.  

According to a complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, the alleged abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024. 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.

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 did not respond when contacted for comment on Friday night.  

The actor has been married to Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert since 2013. 

Gilbert shot to fame as a child in the 1960s, and went on to become one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, including serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001 to 2005. 

Following a stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2012, Gilbert ran for Congress in Michigan's 8th Congressional District three years later, but after becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee she dropped out of the race, citing health issues. 

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.'' 

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.'