Timothy Busfield has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child abuse, according to an arrest warrant issued by Albuquerque police.
Albuquerque police officer Marvin Brown’s affidavit details an investigation of alleged sexual abuse involving two boys on the set of The Cleaning Lady, where Busfield served as a director.
One of the children told an interviewer that Busfield touched him for the first time when he was seven years old, on set. He detailed another incident that took place when he was eight years old, again on set.
The child said that Busfield touched him on his “‘poop’ and ‘pee’ area over his clothing.”
Police were first alerted about the situation in 2024 when a University of New Mexico Hospital doctor contacted the Albuquerque police for a sexual abuse investigation. An officer spoke with the parents, who detailed their children’s work on The Cleaning Lady. Busfield, a new director on the series at the time, reportedly told the kids to call him “Uncle Tim.”
When the parents heard “multiple rumors that Timothy had been ‘handsy’ with women,” they asked their children, who were 11 years old at the time, “if anyone had ever touched them in a manner that made them uncomfortable. The children responded by asking, ‘You mean like Uncle Tim?’”
The affidavit continues, “Officer Osborn contacted Detective Michael Brown with the Crimes Against Children Unit and determined that the case did not mee their acceptance criteria at this time,” after the officer spoke with the children and they did not disclose any sexual contact.
Officer Brown spoke with Busfield on the phone as part of the investigation, and “ask[ed] Timothy if he ever had any physical contact with these boys and if he ever picked them up and tickled them.” The affidavit continued, “Timothy said it was highly likely that he would have.”
Busfield later took back said claims, stating, “I don’t really remember picking those boys up. Uh, I remember picking up the boy who followed them. I’d pick him up, and he’d be giggling, and that would sort of get him ready to act. … I don’t remember those boys. No, I don‘t, I don’t actually, I don’t remember it, it, if it happened, I don’t remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for me.”
During their phone conversation, the director shared that Warner Bros. conducted their own investigation into the claims. The affidavit outlines this, citing a 2025 investigation that ensued after SAG-AFTRA received an anonymous complaint relating to an alleged separate incident on the set of The Cleaning Lady in December 2024.
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Warner Bros. for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
“According to the anonymous complainant, who claimed 10 have witnessed the incident in the Hair and Make-Up trailer, executive producer/director Tim Busfield entered and kissed a minor male on the face as the minor was getting a haircut,” the affidavit reads. “The anonymous complainant further alleged that there are pictures of Mr. Busfield, ‘tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.’”
THR has reached out to Busfield’s legal representation for comment.
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