OMM Newsroom
A judge in New Mexico dismissed the indictment against actor Timothy Busfield on Friday, citing problems with how prosecutors presented the case. The district attorney’s office said it is evaluating its options, according to the BBC.
State District Judge Joseph Montano granted the defence’s motion to dismiss the indictment, saying the prosecutor had “failed to act in a fair and impartial manner”. The judge cited mistakes that undermined the grand jury process.
Busfield was indicted in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child. He has denied all allegations. The charges stemmed from accusations by child actors who worked with him on the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady”, which he directed and produced.
“Our office has received the order and is evaluating our options to determine how we will proceed,” a spokesperson for the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney in Bernalillo County told the BBC on Friday. The BBC said it had contacted a legal representative for Busfield.
Busfield surrendered to state authorities in January after a warrant was issued for his arrest. A judge later ordered his release pending trial. He had initially been taken into custody in Albuquerque on two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and one count of child abuse.
The indictment, reviewed by the BBC, alleged that between 19 October 2022 and 10 September 2023, Busfield “touched or applied force to the intimate parts” of one of the unnamed boys while the child was under 13.
Busfield’s defence team submitted more than 70 letters from people vouching for his character and said he had taken and passed a polygraph test relating to the allegations.
In the arrest warrant, prosecutors said the boys’ parents alleged that Busfield groomed and sexually abused the children while he was working on “The Cleaning Lady”. Authorities said the boys referred to him as “Uncle Tim” and alleged that he “would tickle them on the stomach and legs”. According to the arrest affidavit, both boys told authorities they had been touched inappropriately for years.
Busfield’s lawyers said he was being accused in an act of revenge after the children were fired from the series, which angered their mother.
The BBC’s Nardine Saad contributed to the report.
