Timothy Busfield Lawyer Slams “Unsound” Child Sex Abuse Indictment By New Mexico DA; “Cannot Be Proven At Trial”

Timothy Busfield‘s main lawyer today spurned New Mexico prosecutors’ indictment of the thirtysomething actor on child sex abuse claims as being about something other than justice.

“The indictment was not unexpected,” Larry Stein told Deadline after Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman made public the indictment against Busfield.

“As the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich,” the attorney added of a “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. 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. Mr. Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State’s case in open court — where evidence matters — not behind closed doors.”

On January 9, Busfield was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse stemming from alleged incidents involving two minor boys on the New Mexico set of the Fox/Warner Bros TV series The Cleaning Lady.

Busfield directed several episodes of the Élodie Yung starrer during its four-season run from 2022-25. Being held without bond at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center after being arrested and booked, Busfield appeared briefly in Judge Felicia Blea-Rivera’s courtroom remotely on January 14. In the first of many hits against his career since the allegations came out and more emerged, that same day, as Deadline exclusively reported, Busfield was dropped by his longtime agency Innovative Artists.

Pummeled by argument from defense lawyers Amber Fayerberg and Christopher Dodd that the abuse claims were from “con artists” parents and a revenge shakedown, prosecutors last month lost their attempt to keep Emmy winner Busfield behind bars. The DA office of Bergman, who is running for Governor of the Land of Enchantment, insisted to no avail that Busfield could “reoffend” and posed a  “a danger to the safety of others.”

Following up on earlier filings, Fayerberg made a point of spotlighting how the 2014-born brothers and ex-The Cleaning Lady actors only spoke of tickling and similar type of touching in their first interviews in late 2024 with doctors and police. It wasn’t until last fall, as the police investigation appeared over after a probe by Cleaning Lady producers Warner Bros found no misconduct, the mother of the boys told the cops that “on 09/02/2025, SL reported to his counselor that Busfield “touched his penis and bottom.”

Late last year, Busfield informed local police in a a phone interview that Cleaning Lady lead Yung had told him in late 2024 that “the mother of SL and VL (sic) that she wanted revenge, and I’m going to get my revenge on Tim Busfield for not bringing her kids back for the final season.”

Back on January 20, just a few days after the actor/director turned himself in Judge David Murphy put little stock in the worries of DA Bergman (who is running for Governor in the Land of Enchantment) and past (never charged) accusations against The West Wing actor.

“There are no similar allegations involving children in his past,” the state judge told a court hearing that saw an orange jumpsuit and shackled Busfield present, as well as family and friends like spouse Melissa Gilbert. “There’s no evidence of non compliance with prior court orders. Rather, this defendant self surrendered and submitted himself to this Court’s jurisdiction demonstrating compliance with the court order for his arrest.”

Awaiting a possible trial, Busfield was released that day with no restrictions on his travels. Judge Murphy also put in specific conditions on the actor. Busfield is to have no “unsupervised contact with any minor children in this case,” and he is “not to have any contact with the alleged victims or their families, and you’re also not to discuss the case with any witnesses.”

Friday, DA Bergman’s office posted news of the indictment online.

They said: “Bernalillo County Grand Jury Issues Indictment in Child Sexual Contact Case Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced today that a Bernalillo County grand jury indicted Timothy Busfield. Busfield was indicted on the following charges: Count 1: Criminal Sexual Contact of a Child Count 2: Criminal Sexual Contact of a Child Count 3: Criminal Sexual Contact of a Child Count 4: 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. The case will be prosecuted by the Special Victims Unit of the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Sam Bregman emphasized that protecting children remains a top priority for his office. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office remains committed to doing everything possible to protect children and ensure justice for victims. No further information is being released at this time.”

Busfield has returned to his home on the East Coast, but has stayed in touch with officials in New Mexico, I hear.

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