A new audio recording has further complicated the case of two child actors accusing director Timothy Busfield of s*xual misconduct.
As 68 -year-old Timothy remained in custody, his team submitted a police audio that captured the underage twins talking about their interactions with him.
The clip came after the director's wife and actress Melissa Gilbert wrote the “strangest letter” to the judge about her “sweet husband.”
Highlights
- A new audio recording captured the two child actors talking about their interactions with Timothy Busfield.
- The Emmy winner was accused of grooming the twin boys and inappropriately touching them on the set of 'The Cleaning Lady.'
- One of the boys said he “was afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him.”
- Timothy's wife Melissa Gilbert wrote the “strangest letter” about her husband to a judge last week.
A new audio recording has further complicated the case of two child actors accusing Timothy Busfield of s*xual misconduct
Image credits: BUILD Series
Trigger warning: This article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Timothy Busfield turned himself in to authorities last week and remains in custody in New Mexico with no bond.
Ahead of a court hearing on Tuesday, January 20, Timothy’s attorney submitted an audio in a New Mexico court on Monday, capturing the two child actors talking about their interactions on the set of The Cleaning Lady.
Image credits: NBCLA
Timothy directed and acted in the Fox show The Cleaning Lady, which ran from 2022 to 2025.
He was accused of grooming the boys on the studio set and touching them inappropriately, back when they were around 7 years old.
The West Wing actor was accused of grooming the twin boys and inappropriately touching them on the set of The Cleaning Lady
Image credits: Noam Galai/Getty Images
The newly submitted audio clip included a police interview with the twin boys, referred to as V.L and S.L.
“You know no one can touch your private areas?” an officer was heard asking in the November, 2024, interview.
“Yes,” the boys responded.
Image credits: Metropolitan Detention Center
When the officer asked the twins whether Timothy ever touched their private parts, they both denied it.
“He didn’t touch that part,” said the boy known as S.L, while V.L said in a separate audio, “No, he’s never touched me.”
As Timothy’s legal team submitted the audio in court on Monday, they described the child actors’ responses as the “unequivocal denial” of their allegations of being inappropriately touched.
The recently submitted audio captured S.L and V.L describing their interactions with the director
Image credits: Will Hart/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images
Prosecutors, however, claimed the audio was showing the twins failing to “disclose” the s*xual ab*se during the interview, Timothy’s legal team said.
The criminal complaint alleges that one of the boys confided in a therapist about the director touching his “genitalia” and “bottom” on multiple occasions on set.
The West Wing star made the boys call him “Uncle Tim” and would “tickle them on the stomach and legs, despite them not liking the tickling.”
One of the boys spoke to authorities about being inappropriately touched and said he “was afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him.”
Image credits: ABC
The same boy was also diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety after Timothy’s alleged behavior, according to the complaint.
He had reportedly disclosed to his therapist earlier that the “director of a series … had engaged in inappropriate touching.” He also had “nightmares about the director touching him and waking up scared,” an arrest warrant said.
Timothy turned himself in on January 13 but vehemently denied the allegations against him. He called them “horrible lies” and said he was going to “confront” them in a statement to TMZ.
“I did not do anything to those little boys … I’m going to fight it with a great team, and I’m going to be exonerated,” he said. “I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.”
One boy allegedly confided in a therapist and said the “director of a series … had engaged in inappropriate touching”
Image credits: timbusfield
Timothy’s defense team accused the boys’ parents of fabricating the ab*se allegations to gain revenge after another child actor replaced their twin sons in the final season of the show.
“The children’s parents have a well-documented history of fraud and dishonesty,” the director’s lawyers alleged in court documents.
“The timeline does not indicate an investigation naturally unfolding, but instead an express effort to seek revenge against Mr. Busfield after losing the lucrative opportunity that came with their children’s acting on The Cleaning Lady,” they added.
Image credits: WFSB 3
After her husband was charged with two counts of criminal s*xual contact of a minor and one count of child ab*se, Melissa Gilbert wrote an emotional plea to the judge and called it the “strangest letter” she has “ever had to write.”
“Tim Busfield is my love, my rock, my partner in business and life. He is my comfort and my council. His joy, humor and quick wit bring sparkle to my life,” the Little House on the Prairie star wrote to a Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court judge.
Melissa called her husband the “beating heart of [their] wild and wonderful extended family” and asked the judge to “protect” him.
“Please, please, take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart,” she wrote. “I am relying on you to protect him for me.”
The court hearing on January 20 will determine whether Timothy will be released on bail.
“Those boys were coached by a vindictive mother looking for a payday,” one said, while another wrote, “I don’t think kids want to admit it. Especially to police”
