Hearing scheduled to decide if accused actor Timothy Busfield should stay in jail
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- A court hearing will be held to decide whether actor Timothy Busfield will remain in jail.
- The TV and movie actor is accused of sexually abusing two boys in New Mexico.
- Busfield lived in Sacramento for many years and co-founded the B Street Theatre.
A hearing will be held Tuesday to determine whether TV and movie actor Timothy Busfield should remain in jail while awaiting prosecution on allegations of sexually abusing two boys in New Mexico.
The 68-year-old actor, who lived in Sacramento for many years and is a co-founder of the city’s storied B Street Theatre, faces two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor child and one count of child abuse, all felonies.
In a video made at his attorney’s office, Busfield vehemently denied allegations that he inappropriately touched and groomed twin boys on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” a television show filmed in Albuquerque.
“I’m going to confront these lies,” Busfield said in a video posted online by the celebrity news site TMZ. “They’re horrible. They’re all lies. And I did not do anything to those little boys.”
In a news conference Thursday, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced that Busfield’s criminal case has been transferred to the 2nd Judicial District Court of New Mexico to determine the accused actor’s custody status. He said Judge David Murphy will hear arguments at 2 p.m. Tuesday to decide whether Busfield should remain in jail.
After Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors were expected to formally file criminal charges against Busfield. Bregman said Busfield would then be arraigned on those charges, and the court would schedule further proceedings before a judge could schedule a trial.
“As with all criminal cases referred to my office, my prosecutors will fully evaluate this matter and proceed based on the evidence and in the interest of justice,” Bregman told reporters. “Anyone with information relating to this matter should contact law enforcement.”
In a filed motion asking the court to keep the actor in custody, prosecutors said Busfield has also been accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl several years ago when she was auditioning for Sacramento’s B Street Theatre.
The motion filed by the Bernalillo DA’s Office said Colin Swift, then a Sacramento-area therapist, contacted prosecutors Tuesday after news reports detailed allegations against Busfield. The father told prosecutors that his daughter had also been sexually abused by him, according to the motion.
At the time, Busfield begged the family not to report the alleged sexual abuse to law enforcement and promised to participate in psychotherapy, according to the motion. Prosecutors said Swift, who was a therapist himself, “thought at the time that was the best thing to do.”
Busfield was booked Monday afternoon at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. Jail records show Busfield remained in custody Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Busfield made his first appearance in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. He was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and appeared via video along with other inmates from the jail facility.
Busfield, who was born in Lansing, Michigan, is well known for his roles as an actor on the 1988 ABC show “Thirtysomething” and the film “Field of Dreams” and his portrayal of White House reporter Danny Concannon on the NBC show “The West Wing.”
At Thursday’s news conference, Bregman said his office’s priority is to protect the rights of everyone involved in the criminal case.
“That is why at this time we will not discuss the facts of this case,” Bregman told reporters. “The rules of professional conduct are clear that prosecutors should try cases in the courtroom and not in the media.”
When asked what specifically concerned him about Busfield’s potential release from jail, Bregman said his prosecutors routinely file pretrial detention motions for defendants facing similar criminal charges. He told reporters that “this is something we do, and it is not specific to this case.”
He said a criminal case such as this one will typically take about 12 to 18 months to complete, and he didn’t see why Busfield’s case would be any different. A reporter asked Bregman to respond to Busfield’s statement denying the allegations, including whether he was confident in the charges his office filed against Busfield.
“This office, we have a very clear, high standard of professionalism,” Bregman said. “We don’t agree to prosecute any case unless we believe beyond a reasonable doubt that we believe it.”
