The child sexual abuse case against Timothy Busfield has been tossed out by the judge overseeing the proceedings as he accused prosecutors of misconduct and violating grand jury statutes as the case began to move through the justice system.
The charges of sexual assault involving two minors that were filed earlier this year in New Mexico against Busfield stem from time on the set of the TV series The Cleaning Lady, episodes of which he directed, between 2022 and 2024. The 69-year-old thirtysomething and Field of Dreams star, who went on to a prolific career as a director on television shows, is accused of sexually assaulting twin boys who appeared in several seasons of the show.
Throughout his career as an actor and director, Busfield has faced multiple accusations from women of on-set groping and sexual assault; the outcomes of these accusations have varied from out-of-court settlements to dismissal of charges against him. He has been married to actor Melissa Gilbert since 2013.
The 2026 accusations stem from a call placed to police in Albuquerque by a University of New Mexico physician who examined the boys and alerted them to allegations of abuse. After police had a difficult time finding him, a media frenzy followed and the actor was eventually arrested after he surrendered himself. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office in New Mexico charged Busfield with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child and he was released under his own recognizance ahead of the trial.
An attorney for the actor has said that the charges are bogus and that the accusations come from the parents of the children who were looking for vengeance against Busfield for recasting the boys in the fourth season of the Fox series after they aged out of their roles. An investigation by Warner Bros. into the incident produced no evidence, and Busfield has passed a polygraph test regarding the allegations, his attorneys have told the court.
But on Friday, it was the actions of prosecutors earlier this year during the grand jury process that sank the case — for now, at least. Judge Joseph Montano of the Second Judicial District Court of New Mexico in Albuquerque said prosecutors “failed to act in a fair and impartial manner” — but he did not close the door on future charges, leaving Busfield exposed to further legal action from New Mexico prosecutors.
In his dismissal of the case, Judge Montano said that the state didn’t call certain witnesses after the grand jury asked to hear from them and failed to properly instruct jurors on procedures. In his conclusion, the judge lambasted prosecutors for failing to “act in a fair and impartial manner” and for violating grand jury statutes that are “designed to protect the structural integrity of our grand jury system.”
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to the New Mexico Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney on Friday to discuss the grand jury proceedings and ask about plans for re-filing the case against Busfield, but did not immediately hear back. The New York Times reported that prosecutors are undecided as of Friday afternoon about refiling the charges.
Nancy Laflin, a spokeswoman for the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office of New Mexico, said in a statement sent to the outlet on Friday that her office “is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed.”
Since the accusations against Busfield went public, he was dropped by talent agency Innovative Artists.