ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A judge has decided that actor Timothy Busfield can be released from jail while he waits for his trial. This decision was made at a hearing on Tuesday.
Judge David Murphy made the order after Busfield was accused of touching a child inappropriately. The alleged incident happened while Busfield was working on the TV show “The Cleaning Lady.”
The judge said that Busfield will be watched by a group in Albuquerque before his trial. Busfield is allowed to go back to his home in another state.
Busfield, who has won an Emmy Award and acted in shows like “The West Wing” and movies like “Field of Dreams,” was first told to stay in jail with no chance of getting out last week. Before turning himself in, Busfield said in a video that the accusations against him were not true.
The judge said that even though Busfield is accused of serious crimes involving children, the prosecutors did not prove that he couldn’t be released safely.
Judge Murphy said there was no proof that Busfield had done anything like this before. He also pointed out that Busfield turned himself in, showing that he would follow the court’s orders.
During the hearing, Busfield was wearing an orange jail uniform. His wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, was in the courtroom.
Gilbert, known for playing Laura Ingalls in the TV show “Little House on the Prairie,” was listed as someone who might be called as a witness.
Earlier this month, police in Albuquerque said they wanted to arrest Busfield. They accused him of touching a child sexually and of child abuse. The complaint says that these things happened on the set of “The Cleaning Lady.”
According to the complaint, a police investigator said that a child reported that Busfield touched private areas over his clothes. This happened when the child was 7 and 8 years old. The child’s twin brother also said that Busfield touched him, but he didn’t say where. He said he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to get in trouble.
Busfield’s lawyers said that in early police interviews, the children said that Busfield did not touch them in private areas. The lawyers said that the complaint made it sound like the children didn’t say anything about the abuse, but they argued that saying “no” is different from not saying anything at all.
The criminal complaint also says that one of the boys told his therapist that the show’s director touched him inappropriately. The police got these records during their investigation.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the prosecutor, Savannah Brandenburg-Koch, said that there was strong proof that Busfield had abused the children.
She said that the boys’ stories were backed up by medical findings and their therapist. She also said that the boys’ stories were clear and not made up.
She also said that Busfield has a history of sexual misconduct, abusing his power, and trying to take advantage of people over the past 30 years. Prosecutors also said that some witnesses were afraid of being retaliated against or harmed professionally.
Brandenburg-Koch said that putting a GPS tracker on Busfield wouldn’t stop him from being around children or talking to witnesses.
Busfield’s lawyers said that the accusations only came up after the boys lost their jobs on the TV show. They said that the boys’ parents have a history of fraud. They also said that Warner Bros. investigated the allegations and found them to be false.
Busfield also provided letters from people who vouched for his character. His lawyers said that he passed a lie detector test.
Experts say that New Mexico is one of the few states that allows lie detector test results to be used in criminal cases, but the judge has the final say. There are strict rules about when a lie detector test can be used.
