Timothy Busfield has been accused of inappropriately touching two twin boys whereas working as a director on the set of The Cleansing Girl. The West Wing alum, 68, has not solely denied the fees, however is insisting that the daddy of the alleged victims usually inspired the children to return into direct bodily contact with him, an arrest warrant obtained by Us Weekly claims.
Whereas talking with Officer Marvin Brown, Busfield allegedly advised him that “the dad, Ronald, would make [the twins] hug him, and he didn’t really need them to.”
On Friday, January 16, Alan Caudillo, who labored on the Fox crime drama as a cinematographer, appeared to echo the claims in new courtroom paperwork obtained by Us.
“The twins’ mother and father had been odd,” Caudillo allegedly mentioned on the time, noting that the daddy, who was named within the paperwork however who Us has chosen to not establish, “creeped me out.”
The director of pictures continued, “He was pushy and manipulative. He would drive the twins to offer me a hug each single time I noticed him on set. He thought I used to be vital, and it appeared like he wished me to actually just like the boys. I at all times thought it was very creepy and unhealthy to drive a toddler to offer somebody a hug. Ronnie was very overbearing. He had an influence enterprise, alpha-male perspective.”
As Us beforehand reported, Busfield was accused of inappropriately touching the boys on a number of events from 2022 to 2024 — to allegedly embrace choosing the children up, touching them in “personal areas,” and tickling them.
One of many boys claimed he was “very afraid” of Busfield and reportedly didn’t initially inform anybody in regards to the alleged abuse “as a result of Tim was the director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him.”
Whereas Busfield advised police that it was “extremely seemingly that he would have” come into bodily contact with the kids all through their time on the present, he mentioned he didn’t recall “overtly tickling the boys ever,” or choosing them up. He did admit to choosing up one other youngster actor on set, noting there was “no protocol” for touching youngsters on set.
“I’m at all times round folks, proper? It will be, you already know, in entrance of the mother and father. There would by no means be a bizarre second about it,” he mentioned, per the arrest warrant. “I don’t actually keep in mind choosing these boys up. I keep in mind choosing up the boy who adopted them. I’d choose him up and he’d be laughing and that might type of get him able to act.”
Following the allegations, the Thirtysomething actor was dropped by his former expertise company, Revolutionary Artists.
New Mexico police issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest on two counts of felony misconduct in opposition to a minor on January 9. The director turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday, January 13. He’s since maintained that every one accusations in opposition to him “are utterly false,” in response to his lawyer, Larry Stein.
“As a voluntary step, he submitted to an impartial polygraph examination relating to these allegations and handed,” Stein mentioned earlier this week.
If convicted on all fees, Busfield might withstand 15 years behind bars.
Should you or somebody you already know is experiencing youngster abuse, name or textual content Youngster Assist Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
