Timothy Busfield denies sexual contact allegations in newly released audio

Timothy Busfield denied ever doing anything sexual with two young boys and called the allegations “disgusting” in a recorded phone call with an Albuquerque detective, a exchange that now sits at the center of a criminal case that is still moving toward trial.

The November 2025 call, released this week, captures Busfield responding to a detective who said he was investigating a report from a child about something that allegedly happened on the set of The Cleaning Lady. Busfield, 68, rejected the accusations and said he never had sexual contact with the boys. The recording does not resolve the case, but it sharpens the divide between Busfield’s denial and the accusations now being tested in court.

A Bernalillo County grand jury indicted Busfield in February 2026 on four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child. The indictment says the alleged contact occurred on multiple occasions between 2022 and 2024. Busfield turned himself in to authorities on Jan. 13, 2026 after a warrant was issued. Prosecutors initially sought to keep him jailed pending trial, arguing he posed a danger to the community, but a judge later ordered him released.

The allegations involve two child actors who worked on the Fox series The Cleaning Lady while the production was in Albuquerque. One child said the first incident happened when he was 7, when Busfield touched him three or four times, then five or six times when he was 8, NBC News reported. The child’s mother reported the abuse to Child Protective Services, adding another layer to a case that has moved through law enforcement, prosecutors and the courts before any verdict has been reached.

Warner Bros. Television said it was aware of the charges and would cooperate with law enforcement. Busfield’s wife, actor Melissa Gilbert, has publicly supported him. A New Mexico film-industry source quoted by KOB called the allegations “disgusting,” “disappointing” and “traumatic” for a child. The case has also drawn scrutiny over how the studio handled the investigation, with New Mexico prosecutors criticizing Warner Bros. for slow-walking access to its finished internal report and witnesses once law enforcement became involved.

The audio release is important not because it settles the facts, but because it shows the case in its earliest, most contested form: an accusation, a denial and a set of charges that still must be proved in court.