Actor, director charged with child sexual abuse surrenders to Albuquerque police

Actor and director Timothy Busfield turned himself in to law enforcement in Albuquerque on Tuesday after he was charged with allegedly inappropriately touching an 8-year-old child actor working on the set, according to the Albuquerque Police Department. 

The Emmy Award-winning actor faces felony charges of child abuse and two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

The abuse allegedly happened during the filming of the television series "The Cleaning Lady," which Busfield directed and produced. The complaint places the alleged abuse at the Cinelease Studios off of Interstate 25 between 2023 and 2024. 

The television series where the abuse allegedly took place was jointly produced by Fox Entertainment and Warner Brothers, whose attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Albuquerque police say, during their investigation, Warner Bros. "made it very difficult to obtain information for this case. Police said the studio "waited almost three months to comply with a court order" to hand over its independent investigation into the allegations — which found no wrongdoing.

Busfield was in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center as of Tuesday afternoon, where he was booked on his charges, said APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos.

Busfield surrendered himself four days after APD issued a warrant for his arrest.

When asked about the case by reporters at an unrelated news briefing, APD Commander Jeff Barnard said the investigation into Busfield was lengthy and thorough due to its sensitive nature. 

"Anytime we have one of these investigations, especially with children, we want to be extremely thorough and follow the same procedures," Barnard said.

NBC has since pulled an episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" originally set to air Thursday in which Busfield plays a court judge, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The long-running series largely focuses on sex crimes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com or on Twitter @G_Barkhurst