Melissa Gilbert was in the room with her husband, Timothy Busfield, as he was questioned by police, an arrest warrant obtained by Us Weekly claims.
Back in November, the West Wing actor, 68, allegedly told Officer Marvin Brown that his wife was listening on speakerphone during his interview regarding the ongoing allegations of child sex abuse. As Us previously reported, Busfield has been accused of inappropriately touching two twin boys on multiple occasions over a two-year period — to include touching over the children’s clothing, picking them up and tickling them — while working as a director on the set of The Cleaning Lady.
At that time, Brown concluded that both Busfield and Gilbert had a friendly relationship with the boys and their family that was facilitated “outside of work.”
“They advised that they did buy the two boys Christmas gifts and were together [at] several social functions,” Brown reported in the arrest warrant.
The officer suggested Busfield may have forged these relationships to “foster closeness” with them and called it an example of “classic grooming to erode boundaries, isolate the victim, and silence suspicions by blending abuse into normalcy.”
During the interview, Busfield allegedly claimed he did not recall “overtly tickling” the boys at any time, but admitted that it was likely that he’d had physical contact with them due to the “playful environment” on set.
“I’m always around people, right? It would be, you know, in front of the parents. There would never be a weird moment about it,” he said, per the warrant. “I don’t really remember picking those boys up. 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.”
When he was questioned on whether or not this type of touching was typically allowed on set, Busfield allegedly said it “wasn’t allowed,” but then claimed there was no official “protocol” regarding physical contact between an adult and a minor on set or while filming the show.
Busfield also allegedly told Officer Brown that the boys’ parents had been frustrated that their sons had been replaced by another actor on the show and that they allegedly filed the complaint against him with Warner Bros. shortly after.
Warner Bros. has since released a statement confirming they are continuing to cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation.
“The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,” the statement shared with People read. “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action.”
On Friday, January 9, New Mexico police issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest on two counts of criminal misconduct against a minor.
Us has reached out to representatives for Busfield for comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
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