The father of the teenager claimed that Busfield “kissed” and “touched her privates” during an audition held “several years ago.”

Timothy Busfield faces another child sexual abuse allegation from 16-year-old girl

The father of the teenager claimed that Busfield "kissed" and "touched her privates" during an audition held "several years ago."

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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January 14, 2026 4:46 p.m. ET

Timothy Busfield attends the ABC Television's Winter Press Tour 2020. Credit:

Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage

Actor and director Timothy Busfield is facing another allegation of sexual abuse. **

The 68-year-old *West Wing* alum surrendered to the Albuquerque Police Department yesterday after an arrest warrant for him was issued that claimed Busfield had inappropriately touched 11-year-old twin boys. He has since been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. **

On Wednesday, prosecutors filed a motion, which was viewed by **, that requests Busfield be detained as he awaits trial. In it, they allege that a victim’s father, named Colin Swift, reported to law enforcement yesterday that Busfield had sexually abused his 16-year-old daughter during an audition that took place “several years ago” in Sacramento, Calif.

Timothy Busfield as Henry Roswell in 'For Life'.

Giovanni Rufino via Getty

“While auditioning for the defendant at B Street Theatre, the 16-year-old reported that the defendant kissed her and put his hands down her pants and touched her privates,” the motion reads. “The defendant begged the family to not report it to law enforcement if he received therapy.”**

Swift, who works as a therapist, “thought at the time that was the best thing to do,” per the motion. **

Busfield, who is married to *Little House on the Prairie* alum Melissa Gilbert, founded the B Street Theatre in 1986, then known as the Theatre for Children.

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He denied all wrongdoing in a video obtained by TMZ prior to surrendering to the police. “I'm going to confront these lies," Busfield said in part. "They're horrible. They're all lies. And I did not do anything to those little boys, and I'm going to fight it. I'm going to fight it with a great team, and I'm going to be exonerated, I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.” **

According to the arrest warrant, which was obtained and reviewed by EW, an investigation into Busfield’s conduct began in November 2024 after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) alerted authorities about alleged sexual abuse. The victims’ parents told APD Officer Marvin Brown at the time that their 11-year-old twin boys were child actors who had met Busfield on the set of the Fox drama *The Cleaning Lady*, per the warrant.**

Brown then had a phone interview with Busfield in November 2025, where the actor claimed that his *Cleaning Lady* costar, Elodie Yung, had told him that the mother of the victims “wanted revenge” against him for not bringing her kids back for the final season," the warrant said.

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Brown also noted in the warrant that Warner Bros. launched its own investigation into Busfield’s on-set conduct after receiving an anonymous SAG-AFTRA hotline complaint, but that its investigator was allegedly "not able to talk with anyone who would support evidence that Timothy Busfield engaged in this behavior."

Director/producer Timothy Busfield poses for portrait at the 34th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival - "Guest Artist" Photo Call at Metro 4 Theatres on Feb. 7, 2019 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty

The warrant also alleged that Busfield faced two prior accusations of sexual assault, but that neither of them resulted in him being formally charged. In their motion for pretrial detention, prosecutors have asked the judge to “detain” Busfield ahead of the trial “because no release conditions will reasonably protect the safety of any other person or the community” itself.**

"The Defendant's repeated sexual touching of the victim's intimate areas, combined with deliberate grooming behaviors, establishes a sustained pattern of predatory conduct," it read. "This conduct demonstrates that the Defendant poses a serious and ongoing danger not only to the named victims, but to any child placed within his proximity.

It continued, “Sexual exploitation of children reflects a profound disregard for the physical safety, emotional well-being, and developmental health of minors, and it evidences a risk that cannot be adequately mitigated through supervision or conditional release."

*If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.*

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