Timothy Busfield’s indictment over allegations of inappropriate contact with twin boys has been dismissed by a New Mexico judge, prompting his wife Melissa Gilbert to share a line from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Gilbert, 62, posted: “So shines a good deed in a weary world” after State District Judge Joseph Montano ruled that prosecutorial misconduct and serious errors had compromised the grand jury proceedings.
The decision represents a significant legal victory for Busfield, 69, who has consistently denied wrongdoing. However, prosecutors have not ruled out seeking another indictment, meaning the case may not be over.
The allegations concern twin boys who appeared on the television series The Cleaning Lady, which Busfield directed in Albuquerque between 2022 and 2024. Their parents alleged that he had behaved inappropriately towards the children before they lost their roles on the production.
According to a criminal complaint filed in January, one of the boys told investigators that Busfield had touched his private areas over his clothing when he was seven and eight years old. His twin also alleged inappropriate touching but did not specify where.
Busfield’s lawyers argued that the children had initially denied inappropriate contact during police interviews and claimed their parents had coached them after the boys were dropped from the show. The defence also referred to an independent Warner Bros investigation which, according to the lawyers, found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Judge dismisses Timothy Busfield indictment
Busfield’s legal team applied to have the indictment dismissed in June, accusing prosecutors of being “willfully blind to the lack of evidence”. At a hearing in September, his attorney Amanda Fayerberg played recordings of grand jurors asking for additional witnesses.
She argued that prosecutors had wrongly told the jurors subpoenas were required even though the witnesses were “present, available and willing to testify”. Fayerberg described the conduct as “egregious prosecutorial misconduct”.
Prosecutors disputed that account and argued that Busfield had attempted to influence the grand jury towards favourable testimony during a three-hour appearance of his own.
The actor told jurors that the allegations had devastated his personal and professional life, costing him work and his representation. Asked about claims that he had caressed the children, he replied: “I’m saying that is absolutely one gazillion percent untrue. Never ever.”
Fayerberg said Busfield was “relieved and grateful” after learning of the judge’s decision. She also acknowledged that the ruling might not bring the legal battle to an end.
“We know this may not be the end,” she said. “If the State chooses to try again, Tim is ready, and so are those witnesses.”
Gilbert’s quotation came from Gene Wilder’s performance as Willy Wonka in the 1971 film. The line is delivered after Charlie Bucket returns an Everlasting Gobstopper rather than betray Wonka.
The words originated with William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, although the original wording was slightly different: “So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
Gilbert has remained publicly supportive of her husband throughout the case. In an emotional interview in April, she said: “I know this man in my bones. No one knows him better than I do. I know literally everything about him.”
She added: “I trust him with my children’s lives, I trust him with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”
But Gilbert also described the effect of the allegations on the couple’s life, saying: “Our life as we knew it is done.” She added: “We are grieving what we had.”
She said the scandal had been “the most traumatizing experience of our lives” and feared that Busfield’s career might not recover even if he were cleared.
“He’s canceled… even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy,” she said.
The couple, who married in 2013, had also been living through a period of upheaval away from the courtroom. In June, Gilbert shared photographs of moving boxes inside their one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where she had lived for eight years.
“So long perfect little one bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. The last eight years here have been so special,” she wrote.
She said she and Busfield would return, adding: “I promise we will be back it’s just that right now…..well….you know,” while expressing excitement about settling into their home upstate.
Gilbert was seen crying in court earlier this year when a judge ordered Busfield’s release from custody. She clasped her hands and whispered: “Thank you, God.”
Busfield is known for roles in The West Wing, Field of Dreams and Thirtysomething, as well as his work directing The Cleaning Lady. Gilbert rose to fame as a child actor in Little House on the Prairie.
