Husband of “Little House” Actress Melissa Gilbert Formally Indicted On 4 Felony Charges
(Photo credit: Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman/Facebook)
Actor-director Timothy Busfield was indicted by a grand jury on Friday, February 6.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced Friday that a grand jury had formally indicted Timothy Busfield on four charges of Criminal Sexual Contact of a Child.
“As with all criminal proceedings, Mr. Busfield is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. This case will proceed through the judicial process and is expected to move forward to trial,” Bregman wrote in a statement.
The indictment comes roughly three weeks after Timothy Busfield, 68, turned himself in to New Mexico authorities after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On February 9, a warrant was issued for Busfield’s arrest after an investigation into abuse allegations. At the time, authorities said that the actor was facing two charges of “criminal sexual contact of a minor and child abuse related to alleged misconduct involving child actors” during the filming of The Cleaning Lady.
RELATED: MELISSA GILBERT REACTS TO ABUSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HUSBAND, TIMOTHY BUSFIELD
In a video statement posted online, Busfield addressed the warrant and vehemently denies the charges before turning himself in.
“I’m sure most of you know … that I was ordered to come to Albuquerque. I’m here now. I got the call Friday night. I had to get a lawyer. On Saturday, I got into a car and drove 2,000 miles to Albuquerque.”
He called the allegations “lies,” saying he planned to confront them.
“They’re horrible. They’re all lies. And I did not do anything to those little boys. And I’m gonna fight it,” he said. “I’m gonna fight it with a great team. And I’m gonna be exonerated. I know I am because this is all so wrong and all lies.”
Timothy Busfield’s attorney responded to Friday’s indictment.
Busfield’s attorney, Larry Stein, issued a statement to TMZ in response to the “not unexpected” indictment, calling the case “fundamentally unsound.”
“The indictment was not unexpected. As the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. What is deeply concerning is that the District Attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial,” Stein told the outlet. “The detention hearing exposed fatal weaknesses in the State’s evidence — gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure. This prosecution appears driven by something other than the facts or the law.”
He vowed to fight the charges in open court.
Busfield spent one week in jail before he was released to await trial.
Timothy Busfield appeared in court for a pre-trial hearing on January 20. Busfield’s wife, Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert, was in attendance for the two-hour hearing, which would determine if the actor would remain in custody until his hearing or be released.
The prosecutors and the defense presented their cases to the judge, with Busfield’s attorney presenting a convincing case that debunked many of the accusations brought against the Emmy Award-winning actor.
In her presentation, attorney Amber Fayerberg presented a recording of an interview conducted with the alleged victims, brothers who were 7 and 8 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. In the clip, one of the boys denied that Busfield had engaged in inappropriate touching.
She added that an actress who worked on The Cleaning Lady claimed that the boys’ mother vowed to retaliate if her children were replaced on the show. Neither of the boys was hired for the following season.
Busfield was released from police custody without bond and was given permission to leave the state of New Mexico to await trial. There were, however, some stipulations to his release.
Busfield will be under the supervision of Pretrial Services in New Mexico until his trial. He was also ordered to appear for all future court dates, and is not allowed to possess “firearms or dangerous weapons, consume any alcohol or illegal drugs, have contact with the alleged victims or their families, discuss the case with any witnesses, or have unsupervised contact with any minor children.”
A trial date has not yet been set.
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