Actor and director Timothy Busfield appeared in court on Tuesday as he faces allegations of child sex abuse.
New photos show Busfield, 68, at a hearing in the Second District Judicial Court at the Bernalillo County Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
His wife Melissa Gilbert, 62, was seen sitting in the courtroom behind him, supporting him.
Prosecutors have charged Busfield with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, which he denied.
On Jan. 9, an arrest warrant was issued for Busfield, on allegations of child sex abuse in New Mexico. The actor and director is best known for his roles in “Field of Dreams” and “The West Wing.”
The actor has denied the accusations but he surrendered to police in New Mexico on Jan. 13.
According to court docs obtained by KOAT, the investigation into the matter was launched in November 2024 when an officer was dispatched to the University of New Mexico Hospital after a doctor called police.
An officer reportedly spoke with two parents who claimed that their children were actors on the Fox series “The Cleaning Lady” in 2024.
Busfield is accused of inappropriately touching one of the boys three or four times, and the other five or six times, according to the arrest warrant.
Currently, he remains behind bars in New Mexico.
The “Little House on the Prairie” actress has been married to Busfield since 2013. Gilbert submitted a letter of support for her husband that was obtained by People and published on Sunday.
“I only want this extraordinary man safe and whole,” Gilbert wrote in the letter.
She continued, “Please, please, take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart, I am relying on you to protect him for me.”
Gilbert’s letter continued, “The reality is that Tim Busfield is my love, my rock, my partner in business and life…I can tell you, and anyone, that I know Tim better and more intimately than anything in his life ever has. Conversely, he knows me in the same way,” she said. “Tim has the strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known. He has dedicated his spiritual self to always being of service to others. He starts every day with kindness and compassion.”
Amid his arrest, Busfield has been edited out of an upcoming Amazon MGM film. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the actor will no longer appear in the rom-com “You Deserve Each Other” starring Meghann Fahy, Penn Badgley, Kyle MacLachlan and Justin Long.
