Inside the ‘stalled’ investigation into Timothy Busfield: Explosive police claims about how Warner Bros kept star out of handcuffs
Timothy Busfield could have been arrested three months ago, but Warner Bros. stonewalled the criminal investigation into his alleged child sex claims, cops claim.
‘They treated us like we were Mayberry,’ one source inside Albuquerque Police Department told the Daily Mail, referring to the one-horse town’s sheriff’s office in the 1960s TV show The Andy Griffith Show.
The lead cop on the case wrote in an affidavit supporting Busfield’s arrest warrant: ‘Warner Bros. made it very difficult to obtain information for this case
Busfield, 68, turned himself into authorities in Albuquerque on Tuesday, four days after the warrant was issued. He drove 2,000 miles to New Mexico’s largest city from his home in New York’s Catskill Mountains which was raided by armed US Marshals an hour later.
He has been charged in connection to allegations made by twin brothers who were working as child actors on his TV series The Cleaning Lady that he had fondled them.
Albuquerque Police Officer Marvin Brown said in the affidavit that the studio ‘waited almost three months to comply with a court order to produce the independent investigation’.
‘Warner Bros. used attorney Richard Westling to advise me that I would need to go through his law firm to talk with any employees of Warner Bros. when I was trying to ensure the safety of additional child actors,’ Brown’s affidavit continues.
‘When talking with employees of Warner Bros., they were very afraid of retaliation from Warner Bros. if they talked to me.’
Actor Timothy Busfield appeared somber-faced as he appeared in court before a New Mexico judge on child sex abuse charges on Wednesday afternoon, as shown above
Melissa Gilbert said she and Busfield moved to New York State because of the pressures of living in LA made her feel she was ‘not being authentically myself’
Cops in Albuquerque complain that Warner Bros. treated them like the fictional sheriff’s office in Mayberry – home to The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s
One production assistant on the show told the Daily Mail she has already been turned down for two potential gigs with the company since she spoke to police.
She says she hesitated to come forward because she feared it would hurt her work status with Warner Bros. and hinder her show business career altogether.
‘There was a strong vibe from the business office that they didn’t want us airing dirty laundry,’ she said.
Prosecutors called out the studio on Wednesday for failing to speak with key witnesses and for creating a working environment in which crew members hesitated to speak openly about Busfield’s behavior.
‘Witnesses in this investigation expressed fear of retaliation and career harm for reporting the defendant’s conduct, further underscoring his ability to intimidate and silence others,’ the District Attorney’s office said.
‘The delayed and limited cooperation by Warner Bros. in responding to a search warrant further underscores the institutional barriers that have historically enabled this type of misconduct to continue,’ reads the DA’s motion seeking to keep Busfield beyond bars until his trial.
Warner Bros. Television hit back with a statement saying: ‘Our top priority is the health and safety of our cast and crew across all productions.’
It added: ‘The studio takes any and all allegations of misconduct very seriously.
At least ten officers in helmets, shields, and tactical gear stormed the $300,000 upstate New York retreat less than an hour after Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield surrendered to police 2,000 miles away
Gilbert has since ditched the bright lights of Hollywood to live in the mountains – relocating in 2022 with husband Busfield, whom she met in 2012 in a bar
Busfield (pictured in his mugshot) is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County, New Mexico
‘In response to law enforcement requests, the studio cooperated by expediting its processes to share the report of its third-party investigation, even though that report could have been withheld as privileged.’
Experts on sexual abuse find criticism of the studio unsurprising given Hollywood’s longstanding efforts to protect people in power. Although progress has been made since the Harvey Weinstein rape scandal broke in 2017, they said big studios like Warner Bros. still have far to go.
‘Children are often the most vulnerable people on a film or television set,’ a statement from the Hollywood Commission, a nonprofit trying to tackle what it calls ‘the culture of abuse and power imbalance’ in the entertainment industry.
The commission is chaired by law professor Anita Hill, best known for coming forward in 1991 claiming to be the target of sexual harassment by her former supervisor, now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Although the group wouldn’t comment specifically about the Busfield case, it said: it ‘advocates for clear, enforceable codes of conduct and consistent training, particularly in work involving minors’.
‘This includes clear standards on appropriate physical contact between minors and adults and contact outside of the production environment.’
Busfield is a former regular on The West Wing and Thirtysomething who appeared in movies including Field of Dreams and Revenge of the Nerds. He has been married to former Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, 61, since 2013.
She did not attend his arraignment in Albuquerque on Wednesday.
At issue are allegations by the parents of two 11-year-old boys who say Busfield fondled them starting when they were 7 years old. They referred to him as ‘Uncle Tim.’
One of the boys told a forensic interviewer that Busfield touched his ‘private areas’ while he was lounging on a bed on set. He said he was afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the show’s director. He has since has been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety stemming from the alleged abuse, police say.
His brother also reported being touched by Busfield, but was less specific about where on his body.
When interviewed, Busfield acknowledged likely having played with and tickled the brothers, but said they were never alone with him on-set without a teacher or parent.
Others on the set contradicted his account, saying the teacher responsible for overseeing the twins often lost track of them.
According to Brown’s affidavit, one hair- and make-up artist told an investigator: ‘Everyone knew to avoid Timothy because he was creepy.’
Albuquerque Police Officer Marvin Brown (center) said: ‘When talking with employees of Warner Bros., they were very afraid of retaliation from Warner Bros. if they talked to me.’ He won an award as Non-Uniformed Officer of the Month for his work on child exploitation in 2024
Busfield and his wife Melissa Gilbert referred to their modest home in Highland Lake in New York’s Catskill Mountains as their refuge from Hollywood
He is currently being held in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center outside Albuquerque, New Mexico
Warner Bros. denies its actions hindered the investigation into Busfield
Busfield reportedly told police he believes the boys’ parents lodged complaints against him as retribution because their sons were replaced by other child actors once they grew too old for the part.
Warner Bros. received an anonymous complaint via the SAG-AFTRA hotline in February 2025. According to court documents and a statement from the independent investigator, the studio’s probe found no evidence that Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct or was ever alone with the boys on set.
The police investigation – which included interviews with the twins’ doctors, therapists and women who have accused Busfield of sexual misconduct in the past – led to charges despite the studio’s inconclusive findings.
Busfield is being held without bond in a federal prison outside Albuquerque facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one of child abuse.
A source familiar with the investigation told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that his arrest warrant likely would have been issued in October – ‘maybe earlier’ – were it not for the studio ‘dragging its feet’.
‘It was one delay after another. No respect,’ the source said.
The surge of media attention on Busfield’s arrest has crew members who worked on The Cleaning Lady set fearing retribution by the company.
Busfield (far right) first found fame on Thirtysomething in the late 1980s. He won the Emmy for best supporting actor in the series in 1991
Busfield, a one-time minor league pitcher, also appeared in the 1989 baseball movie Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner
Busfield starred as Washington Post White House correspondent Danny Concannon on NBC’s The West Wing between 1999 and 2006
But Warner Bros insisted it enforces a ‘clear non-retaliation policy’.
‘The studio informs and trains production employees on this policy at the beginning of employment. The policy is implemented and monitored throughout the course of production to ensure employees feel comfortable reporting any concerns.’
Warner Bros. is well-acquainted with sexual misconduct allegations.
In early 2019, The Hollywood Reporter published text messages suggesting that the company’s then-chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara had a sexual relationship with British actress Charlotte Kirk and may have used his power to help her secure auditions and roles at the studio.
Tsujihara apologized internally and ultimately resigned amid the investigation into his conduct.
The year earlier, producer Brett Ratner, a frequent Warner Bros. collaborator, faced multiple sexual harassment and misconduct allegations from actresses and other industry sources. Ratner denied the claims, but the studio publicly distanced itself and removed him from its projects.
In 2017, Warner Bros. severed ties with TV producer Andrew Kreisberg previously an executive producer on Supergirl, Arrow and The Flash — after internal and media reporting on misconduct allegations.
The studio was named in a lawsuit alleging it failed to address sexual assault and misconduct by actor-comedian Russel Brand, particularly on the set of the 2011 film, Arthur.
Meanwhile, new evidence of prior sexual misconduct has resurfaced in the case against Busfield
In addition to a 1994 allegation by a 17-year-old extra on the film Little Big League, which he directed, and a 2012 claim from a woman who says he groped her in a movie theater, prosecutors on Wednesday disclosed a new, separate allegation by a woman who said Busfield sexually abused her when she was 16 years old.
The victim’s father, a therapist, stated that Busfield begged the family not to report to law enforcement if he received therapy, and they agreed at the time.
