Timothy Busfield has been accused of inappropriately touching twins while working as a director on the set of The cleaning woman. The West Wing alum, 68, has not only denied the charges but insists the father of the alleged victims often encouraged the children to come into direct physical contact with him, an arrest warrant obtained by Us Weekly claims
While talking to the officer Marvin BrownBusfield allegedly told her that “the father, Ronald, was going to make (the twins) hug him, and he really didn’t want them to do that.”
On Friday, January 16, Alan Caudillowho worked on the Fox crime drama as a cinematographer, appeared to echo the claims in new court documents obtained by we.
One major component could make or break Timothy Busfield’s child sexual abuse case. “The most deciding factor will be whether these boys were pressured or influenced by an adult to make the allegedly false allegations against Busfield,” Dave Ring, a partner at Taylor & Ring in Los Angeles, told Us Weekly exclusively. Ring, specialized in children (…)
“The parents of the twins were strange,” Caudillo allegedly said at the time, noting that the father, who was named in the documents but we has chosen not to identify himself, “it scared me”.
The cinematographer continued: “He was pushy and manipulative. He would force the twins to give me a hug every time I saw him on set. He thought it was important and seemed like he wanted the boys to really like him. I always thought it was very creepy and unhealthy to force a boy to give someone a hug. Ronnie had a very dominant, alpha attitude.”
How we previously reported, Busfield was accused of inappropriately touching the boys on various occasions from 2022 to 2024, to include allegedly picking up the children, touching them in “private areas” and tickling them.
One of the boys claimed he was “very scared” of Busfield and reportedly didn’t initially tell anyone about the alleged abuse “because Tim was the manager, and he was afraid Tim would get mad at him”.
Although Busfield told police it was “very likely” he had come into physical contact with the boys during his time in the program, he said he did not recall “overtly tickling the boys at any time” or picking them up. He admitted that he picked up another child actor on set, and pointed out that there was one “No protocol” for touching children on the set
“I’m always around people, right? It would be, you know, in front of the parents. There would never be a weird moment,” he said, according to the arrest warrant. “I don’t really remember picking up those guys. I remember picking up the guy who was following them. I’d pick him up and he’d laugh and that would get him ready to act.”
Following the allegations, the A thirty he was the actor dropped by his former talent agencyInnovative artists.
Police in New Mexico issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest on two counts of criminal mischief against a minor on Jan. 9. The director turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday, January 13. He has since maintained that all the allegations against him “are completely false,” according to his lawyer. Larry Stein.
“As a voluntary step, he submitted to and passed an independent polygraph examination regarding these allegations,” Stein said earlier this week.
If convicted of all charges, Busfield could face 15 years behind bars.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Helpline for children at 1-800-422-4453.