Timothy Busfield, husband of Little House on the Prairie actress Melissa Gilbert, surrendered himself to the Albuquerque Police Department on January 13.
The actor was officially charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, linked to alleged misconduct involving child actors during the filming of The Cleaning Lady, according to KOAT.
Busfield turned himself in just four days after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The investigation, which began in 2024, involves twin actors who appeared on the Fox series that Busfield directed.
According to the arrest warrant, the boys, now 11, were just 7 years old at the time the alleged abuse began. The victims’ mother filed a police report in October 2025 and told Child Protective Services (CPS) that “her children both disclosed that there was sexual abuse by Timothy from around November 2022 to Spring 2024.”
TMZ was the first to report the surrender and released video footage of Busfield addressing the allegations. In the video, he maintains his innocence and tells viewers, “I’m sure most of you know … that I was ordered to come to Albuquerque. I’m here now. I got the call Friday night. I had to get a lawyer. On Saturday, I got into a car and drove 2,000 miles to Albuquerque.”
Busfield then called the allegations “lies.”
“They’re horrible. They’re all lies. And I did not do anything to those little boys. And I’m gonna fight it,” he said. “I’m gonna fight it with a great team. And I’m gonna be exonerated. I know I am because this is all so wrong and all lies.”
Melissa Gilbert, who has been married to Busfield since 2013, initially reacted to the claims against her husband by deleting all of her social media accounts.
Timothy Busfield’s Trial Date Set
On Wednesday (March 11), Busfield’s criminal defense attorney Amber Fayerberg confirmed to PEOPLE his trial is scheduled to begin in May 2027. However, the date may be subject to change and could be sooner.
In February, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced that a grand jury had formally indicted Busfield on four charges of Criminal Sexual Contact of a Child.
“As with all criminal proceedings, Mr. Busfield is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. This case will proceed through the judicial process and is expected to move forward to trial,” Bregman wrote in a statement.
Busfield will be under the supervision of Pretrial Services in New Mexico until his trial. He was also ordered to appear for all future court dates, and is not allowed to possess “firearms or dangerous weapons, consume any alcohol or illegal drugs, have contact with the alleged victims or their families, discuss the case with any witnesses, or have unsupervised contact with any minor children.”
