B Street Theatre Says It Investigated 2001 Allegation Against Timothy Busfield As Actor Faces New Mexico Charges

Timothy Busfield, 68, has surrendered to authorities in Albuquerque and is facing criminal charges in New Mexico while a decades-old allegation from a Sacramento theatre was previously reviewed by the organization where it occurred.

Busfield was arrested after surrendering on Jan. 13 and is charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. Prosecutors say the New Mexico charges relate to incidents involving two 11-year-old boys who met Busfield while he was directing on the second season of the FOX series The Cleaning Lady (2022).

A pretrial detention motion filed on Jan. 14 and obtained by PEOPLE included an unrelated allegation dating to roughly 25 years ago. The filing says a man identified as Colin Swift reported that Busfield sexually abused Swift’s daughter "several years ago" while she was auditioning at B Street Theatre in Sacramento. The alleged victim was described in the motion as 16 at the time.

B Street Theatre issued a statement confirming it had been notified of a complaint about an incident said to have occurred at the theatre around 2001. The company said it retained legal counsel at the time to conduct an internal investigation and that "Mr. Busfield has not had any role in the organization since 2001." The statement added that although Busfield is listed as an emeritus board member, he has not participated in governance, attended board meetings, or been involved in operations, staffing, or programming since then.

“The allegations were never challenged, they were never proved, and they’re 25 years old,” — Larry Stein, civil attorney for Timothy Busfield, speaking to PEOPLE. Stein also noted the theatre-era allegation appears unrelated to the New Mexico charges.

According to the New Mexico arrest warrant filed Jan. 9, one of the alleged victims said incidents began when he was seven. The New Mexico investigation began on Nov. 1, 2024, after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital alerted police to suspected sexual abuse, the filing states.

Busfield turned himself in on Jan. 13 and appeared before a judge in Bernalillo County on Jan. 14. He is being held without bond pending a pretrial detention hearing; the court set a Jan. 29 deadline for the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors have asked that he remain in custody while awaiting trial.

Shortly before surrendering, a video obtained by TMZ captured Busfield denying the allegations. In the footage he said he drove about 2,000 miles to Albuquerque to confront the charges and insisted, "They're all lies and I did not do anything to those little boys."

A Warner Bros. Television representative told PEOPLE the studio takes allegations seriously, prioritizes the safety of cast and crew — especially minors — and will cooperate with law enforcement. A representative for Busfield’s wife, Melissa Gilbert, said she is honoring a request from Busfield’s lawyers not to comment publicly while the legal process unfolds and is focused on supporting their family.

Resources: If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) or visit childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential.