Actor Timothy Busfield Accused of Child Sex Abuse in Arrest Warrant

Timothy Busfield has been accused of child sex abuse according to an arrest warrant issued against The West Wing actor.

Busfield will face two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse after a New Mexico judge signed off on the arrest warrant. The incidents allegedly occurred on the set of the now-canceled Fox series The Cleaning Lady, where Busfield served as executive producer and director.

According to the arrest warrant, obtained by KOAT, the investigation into Busfield began in November 2024, when staff at the University of New Mexico Hospital expressed concern that two child actors in The Cleaning Lady were possibly groomed by Busfield, who the children referred to as “Uncle Tim.” The incidents allegedly occurred when the children, identified only by their initials in the arrest warrant, were 7 and 8 years old.

While the children did not disclose any sexual contact in their initial discussions with hospital staff — only unwanted tickling — subsequent interviews with a social worker reportedly revealed that Busfield inappropriately touched the children’s private areas over their clothing, the arrest warrant states.

The initial investigation by Albuquerque police did not meet the department’s acceptance criteria at the time, and a subsequent investigation by Warner Bros., which produced The Cleaning Lady, could not corroborate the allegations. 

However, the mother of the two children filed a police report in October 2025, told Child Protective Services that “her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Timothy from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.” One of the children told the therapist that he was “having nightmares about the director touching him and waking up scared” and claimed Busfield “had touched and rubbed his penis 3 or 4 times and appeared to be ashamed.” The child was diagnosed with moderate post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

Busfield was later interviewed by investigators, and told them the accusations were “revenge” for The Cleaning Lady replacing the child actors in the series. “There would never be a weird moment about it. I don’t really remember picking those boys up,” Busfield told investigators, per the warrant. “I remember picking up the boy who followed them. I’d pick him up, and he’d be giggling, and that would sort of get him ready to act.”
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Officer Marvin Kirk Brown, who issued the arrest warrant, wrote, “In my training and experience, pedophiles often infiltrate families under a trusted role, like Timothy, who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets to tickle and touch SL on his penis and buttocks, masking it as play.”
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Brown continued, “He would invite the family to off-set gatherings, with his wife buying Christmas gifts to foster closeness, making SL feel special and dependent— classic grooming to erode boundaries, isolate the victim, and silence suspicions by blending abuse into normalcy.”

Busfield has appeared in films like Revenge of the Nerds, Field of Dreams, and Little Big League, and won an Emmy for his role on the drama series Thirtysomething. In 1994, Busfield was accused in a lawsuit of sexual assault by a 17-year-old female extra on the set of Little Big League; the lawsuit was later settled.