Timothy Busfield tells grand jury he's been 'canceled' | Exclusive - USA Today

After major roles in "Thirtysomething" and "The West Wing," Timothy Busfield 's career was waning at 69, but he was still a working actor and director.

Not anymore, according to his grand jury testimony exclusively obtained by USA TODAY from the district attorney's office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, through a public records request.

Busfield told the 12-member jury that he can no longer find work. His last hope, he said, was that the child sex abuse allegations against him would not also ruin his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert.

The actor and director was indicted in February on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child stemming from alleged incidents that occurred between late 2022 and early 2024 when he was working as a director and producer on "The Cleaning Lady" in New Mexico.

"My children, grandchildren, everybody in my life is done because of these false allegations for money and for revenge. These two criminals [the boys' parents] have ruined me. And my wife and her business, I'm not going to break that," Busfield said in the hearing in February.

His wife, the former child star of " Little House on the Prairie," is the cofounder of lifestyle brand Modern Prairie. With the July 9 Netflix reboot of "Little House," Gilbert has been promoting prairie-inspired wares, from $58 limited-edition hand-carved wood figurines of Laura Ingalls Wilder to $128 patchwork denim overalls.

Busfield told a grand jury that he didn’t touch the twin boys inappropriately. He said their parents wanted revenge for dropping them from the fourth season of the crime-thriller, and they manufactured the abuse and manipulated their children to tell the lie.

In testimony that spanned more than two hours, Busfield repeatedly apologized for veering off topic, admitted being nervous, and acknowledged "this is all very real and the stakes are very high."

"My career's done. I'm, I'm canceled. I'll never, I don't, I'll never work again just based on people's fear that I would do this again and, and even if it wasn't true, I’m done. I've lost TV shows, a movie they've digitally replaced me from. My agency fired me. I'm done. This is not about me or a pity thing."

What's next for Timothy Busfield

A 12-member grand jury met Feb. 5 in Albuquerque and listened to just over four hours of testimony from Albuquerque Police Officer Marvin Brown and Busfield. They did not ask to interview more witnesses and returned the indictment that afternoon.

Busfield's lawyer, Larry Stein, previously told USA TODAY in a statement that "the indictment was not unexpected" and maintained Busfield is innocent.

USA TODAY reached out to Stein for an update.

"As the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. 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," Stein said previously.

Busfield’s team filed a motion on June 18 asking the court to throw out the indictment, arguing that the prosecution did not present a fair and impartial case and misstated the law to the grand jury.

A trial date has been set for May 2027.

Timothy Busfield allegations: What is he accused of?

The boys accused Busfield of inappropriate physical contact on the show’s set and said Busfield told them to call him “Uncle Tim.” One boy said Busfield had touched his genitals over his clothes several times.

An investigation began in November 2024 when a University of New Mexico Hospital staff member reported concerns that the boys were being groomed by Busfield after their mother brought them in for an exam when she suspected they had been sexually abused. Hospital staff found no evidence of abuse.

Police interviewed the boys, who said at that time that they had not been sexually abused.

In September, the boys disclosed to therapists that they had been abused, which triggered another police investigation that led to Busfield's arrest.

Busfield hasn’t spoken publicly about the case. A video obtained by TMZ in January showed him promising to "confront these lies."

To protect the privacy of the boys, USA TODAY is not naming them or their parents. USA TODAY does not name survivors of sexual assault.

'I have never been inappropriate in any way'