'West Wing' actor Timothy Busfield turns himself in to face child sex abuse charges in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and vowed to fight charges of child sex abuse stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.

His apprehension comes after authorities in Albuquerque issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed in Albuquerque.

Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.

“Tim voluntarily appeared before New Mexico authorities after traveling across the country to confront these false and deeply troubling allegations,” said Stanton Stein, an attorney for Busfield. “He is innocent and is determined to clear his name.”

Busfield was booked by Albuquerque police on the charges, said Gilbert Gallegos, spokesperson for the city police department. A first appearance in court was scheduled for Wednesday.

NBC shelved an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” that featured Busfield and was set to air Thursday, a network spokesperson confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press. Busfield was guest-starring as the judge on the long-running show, which focuses on sex crimes.

The criminal complaint filed by an investigator with the police department says the boy reported that he was 7 years old when Busfield touched him three or four times on private areas over his clothing. Busfield allegedly touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8, the complaint said.

Busfield denied the allegations when interviewed by authorities last fall as part of an investigation, according to the complaint.

The complaint also says the child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him.

The boy's twin brother told authorities he was touched by Busfield but did not specify where. He said he didn't say anything because he didn't want to get in trouble.

When he was interviewed by authorities as part of the investigation, Busfield suggested that the boys' mother was seeking revenge for her children being replaced on the series — an argument echoed Tuesday by Busfield's attorney. Busfield also previously said he likely would have picked up and tickled the boys, saying the set was a playful environment.

On Tuesday, Stein invoked the results of a private investigation by Warner Bros. to assert that the allegations are false. The investigator hired by Warner Bros. could not immediately be contacted by phone or email.

Authorities say the Warner Bros. investigation was unable to corroborate details of an anonymous complaint to a union workplace hotline after its private investigator “was not able to talk with anyone who would support evidence that Timothy Busfield engaged in this behavior.”

A video obtained by TMZ showed Busfield in front of a window with the Albuquerque skyline in the backdrop. He said he arrived in the city after driving 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers).

“I’m going to confront these lies. They’re horrible. They’re all lies,” Busfield said.

The search for Busfield involved the U.S. Marshals Service and extended to New York before Busfield appeared in the video and arrived at a metropolitan detention center, Gallegos said.

“We had the U.S. Marshals' office looking in New York in particular, and other cities,” Gallegos said.

The mother of the twins — who are identified only by their initials in court records — reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.

Busfield’s wife, Gilbert, indicated through a publicist that she won’t speak publicly at the request of attorneys for Busfield while the legal process unfolds.

“Her focus is on supporting and caring for their very large family,” publicist Ame Van Iden said in a statement. “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”

The investigation began in November 2024, when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The boys' parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, one of the boys has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. A social worker documented him saying he has had nightmares about Busfield touching him.

“The Cleaning Lady” aired for four seasons on Fox, ending in 2025. The show was produced by Warner Bros., which according to the complaint conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them.

Associated Press journalist Mallika Sen in New York contributed to this report. Lee contributed from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

FILE - Timothy Busfield appears at the Disney/ABC Television Group 2015 Winter TCA in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 14, 2015. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Timothy Busfield appears at the 2020 ABC Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - Actor Timothy Busfield smiles before an NFL football game in Detroit, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Friday to weaken air pollution limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment, a move that would reverse a Biden administration finding of high cancer risks at manufacturing facilities that use ethylene oxide to clean medical devices like catheters and syringes.

The EPA said it is concerned that the current Biden-era standards “actively threaten” manufacturers' abilities to sterilize equipment and “jeopardize one of America’s only options for a secure domestic supply chain of essential medical equipment.”

Ethylene oxide plays a crucial role in sterilizing lifesaving medical devices, including pacemakers and syringes, but long-term exposure can cause leukemia and other types of cancer among people who work at medical sterilization facilities or live nearby.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposed rule shows the agency's commitment to protecting people’s health while maintaining a stable domestic medical supply chain.

“The Trump EPA is committed to ensuring life-saving medical devices remain available for the critical care of America’s children, elderly and all patients without unnecessary exposure to communities," he said in a statement.

The proposal is the latest in a series of moves by the EPA under President Donald Trump to relax pollution limits and lower costs for industry. In February alone, the agency weakened restrictions on mercury from coal-burning power plants and repealed a scientific finding that served as the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.

An EPA rule finalized in 2024 was intended to reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 90% by targeting nearly 90 commercial sterilization facilities across the country. The Biden-era rule also required companies to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and ensure their pollution controls are functioning properly.

The American Lung Association called the proposed rule change unacceptable.

“The science shows that both short-term and long-term exposure to ethylene oxide is dangerous for health," said Laura Kate Bender, the association's vice president. “People who live near many commercial sterilization facilities are much more likely to develop cancer over their lifetimes. No one should have to live with elevated cancer risk because of air pollution in their community."

Environmental justice advocates noted that many ethylene oxide facilities are located in minority communities where Black and Brown people have been exposed to the cancer-causing chemical.

Ethylene oxide, also known as EtO, is a gas used to sterilize roughly half of all medical devices and is also used to ensure the safety of certain spices and other food products. It is used to clean everything from catheters to syringes, pacemakers and plastic surgical gowns. Brief exposure isn’t considered a danger, but breathing it long term elevates the risk of breast cancer and lymphoma, the EPA said.

The EPA first classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen in 2016.

In 2022, the EPA laid out the risks faced by residents who live near medical sterilization facilities. In Laredo, Texas, for example, residents and activists fought to clean up a sterilization facility run by Missouri-based Midwest Sterilization Corp. It was one of 23 sterilizers in the United States that the EPA said posed a risk for people nearby.

Sterigenics, a major sterilization company, shuttered a medical sterilization plant in a Chicago suburb after monitoring found emissions spikes in nearby neighborhoods. They eventually settled numerous lawsuits.

Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, said medical sterilizers provide a vital service and many devices can’t be sterilized by any other method.

"We appreciate the EPA’s efforts in listening to and understanding the importance of supplying safe, sterile medical technology without interruption while protecting employees and communities near sterilization facilities,'' he said in an email.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has raised concerns about emissions at a Sterigenics plant southeast of Los Angeles, said Friday that "the EPA is moving in the wrong direction and putting more Americans’ health on the line.”

Associated Press writer Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

FILE - A syringe is prepared at a clinic in Norristown, Pa., on Dec. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)