Timothy Busfield filed a new motion opposing his remand for felony child sexual abuse.
“Defendant Timothy Busfield, through the undersigned attorney, responds in opposition to the state’s remand motion,” Busfield’s attorneys wrote in Friday, Jan. 16, court documents obtained by Us Weekly. “The motion asks the court to imprison a man based on a story that has already collapsed under independent scrutiny.”
Busfield’s legal team further claimed that the prosecution did not offer “any reliable evidence” to support the allegations.
“The state offers no reliable evidence, only allegations presented by witnesses with a documented history of fraud and financial exploitation, contradicted by a thorough investigation by the studio and refuted by witnesses and objective risk assessments,” the court documents say. “The Constitution does not permit the loss of liberty on this basis. The state’s motion should be denied.”
Busfield, 68, he surrendered to New Mexico law enforcement on Tuesday, Jan. 13, days after he was named in an arrest warrant following allegations of sexual misconduct. In the order obtained by we, Busfield was accused of inappropriately touching two child actors on the Fox set The cleaning lady.
“I’m going to stand up to these lies. They’re horrible. They’re all lies, and I didn’t do anything to these little kids,” Busfield said in a video shared with TMZ, denying the allegations. “I’m going to fight it. I’m going to fight it with a great team, and I’m going to be exonerated. I know I am because this is all so wrong and it’s all a lie.”
After his arrest, Busfield allegedly submitted to a polygraph test to corroborate his denial.
“Tim Busfield denies the allegations in the criminal complaint and maintains that they are completely false,” explained the actor’s lawyer. Larry Stein, he said we in a statement. “As a voluntary step, he submitted to and passed an independent polygraph examination regarding these allegations.”
there is no established legal rule regarding polygraph tests and whether they are admissible in court, according to the U.S. Department of Justice website.
“The government continues to have several good arguments for excluding polygraph evidence,” a statement on the DOJ website says. “First, a prosecutor may still attack the reliability of polygraph tests both generally and as administered in the case at hand.”
Busfield made his first court appearance on Wednesday, January 14, where did not enter a plea. The actor will remain in custody until his second court appearance next week.
Busfield is married Little house on the prairie alum Melissa Gilbert since 2013, who has done since then shared a statement of support.
“During this period, he is focused on supporting and caring for his very large family as they navigate this time,” a rep for Gilbert, 61, said. we on tuesday “Melissa is standing by and supporting her husband and will address the public at the appropriate time.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text the Child Helpline at 1-800-422-4453.