Child sex charges dropped against West Wing star Timothy Busfield over prosecutorial misconduct

A child sex abuse indictment filed against actor Timothy Busfield has been dropped after a judge ruled he had been the victim of prosecutorial misconduct.

Busfield, 69, who starred in The West Wing and Thirtysomething, was told on Friday by a judge in Albquerque, New Mexico, that he no longer faces four counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor. 

Second Judicial District Court Judge Joseph Montano said prosecutors had withheld witnesses improperly.

New Mexico prosecutors can still file new criminal charges against Busfield, but have yet to indicate whether they plan to do so.

Busfield has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as lies motivated by revenge

.The case stems from when Busfield was directing the TV series The Cleaning Lady from 2022 to 2024. 

The parents of two twin boys who were let go from the show claimed that Busfield inappropriately touched the children on the set in Albuquerque.

According to a criminal complaint filed in January, an investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department said a boy reported that Busfield touched him on his private areas over his clothing on one occasion when he was 7 years old and another time when he was 8. 

The boy's twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but he did not specify where and didn't say anything because he didn't want to get in trouble, the complaint said.

Busfield turned himself in and was released from jail pending trial by a judge who found no pattern of criminal conduct or similar allegations involving children in Busfield´s past.

The grand jury indictment followed just weeks later, reiterating allegations that Busfield 'touched or applied force to the intimate parts' of one of the boys on several occasions. 

The indictment allowed the case to proceed without a preliminary hearing on evidence.

Busfield´s attorneys noted that the children told police during initial interviews that Busfield didn't touch them inappropriately and accused the boys' parents of coaching their children to give incriminating statements after the boys lost lucrative roles on the show.

In June, Busfield´s attorneys officially asked the court to throw out the indictment, alleging in a motion that prosecutors were 'willfully blind to the lack of evidence' and 'invented procedural hurdles' to keep grand jurors from hearing witness testimony.

During a September hearing, Busfield´s attorney Amanda Fayerberg played audio recordings of grand jurors asking to hear from additional witnesses. 

Fayerberg said prosecutors wrongly informed jurors that subpoenas would be needed, even though those witnesses were 'present, available and willing to testify.'

'The state engaged in egregious prosecutorial misconduct,' Fayerberg said.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Greer Staley countered that the defense hadn't followed the correct process for submitting evidence to a grand jury and that Busfield himself improperly and 'excessively' tried to steer grand jurors toward favorable witnesses and exhibits during his three-hour testimony.

According to the transcripts of the proceedings submitted by Busfield´s attorneys, the Field of Dreams actor told jurors that the case had turned his life upside down and affected his entire family. 

He testified that he had been 'canceled,' meaning he lost work and was fired by his agency.

Busfield also testified that he had nothing to hide and when asked about the allegations that he had caressed the children, he answered: 'I'm saying that is absolutely one gazillion percent untrue. Never ever.'

Prosecutors had said each count in the indictment carried a possible penalty of six years in prison that could be enhanced.