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Reuters
Actor Timothy Busfield appeared in court for a detention hearing in January and a judge ordered his release pending trial
Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted in the US state of New Mexico on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, prosecutors say.
The charges against him stem from allegations brought by child actors he worked with on the New Mexico set of the Fox series The Cleaning Lady, which he directed and produced.
The grand-jury indictment unsealed on Friday carries state charges that supersede the previous charges announced by the county prosecutor last month.
The West Wing and Field of Dreams actor, 68, who has denied the allegations, surrendered to state authorities last month when a warrant was issued for his arrest. A judge later ordered his release pending trial.
Busfield had originally been taken into custody in Albuquerque on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.
"As with all criminal proceedings, Mr Busfield is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. This case will proceed through the judicial process and is expected to move forward to trial," said Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman upon announcing the indictment.
He emphasised that protecting children remains a top priority for his office.
The indictment, reviewed by the BBC, says that on or between 19 October 2022 and 10 September 2023, Busfield "touched or applied force to the intimate parts" of one of the unnamed boys when he was under the age of 13.
The felony charges carry a penalty of six years in prison per charge, the court document states.
Watch: Melissa Gilbert gets emotional after husband Timothy Busfield's release
Busfield's civil attorney Stanton "Larry" Stein said in a statement to the BBC that the indictment was not unexpected, though it is "deeply concerning" that the district attorney is choosing to proceed on a case that he says is "fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial".
Stein pointed to last month's detention hearing, which he said "exposed fatal weaknesses in the State's evidence - gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure".
"This prosecution appears driven by something other than the facts or the law. Mr Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State's case in open court - where evidence matters - not behind closed doors," he added.
Judge David A Murphy in January authorised Busfield's release on the actor's own recognisance and without bail, with the requirement to appear at all future court dates.
The Thirtysomething actor's defence team submitted more than 70 letters from people vouching for his character and said that he underwent and passed a polygraph test pertaining to the allegations against him.
At the January hearing in the Albuquerque courtroom, Busfield's criminal defence lawyer Amber Fayerberg argued against the idea that Busfield was "exploiting his power" because he no longer had any.
"He is persona non grata, and that's not because he did anything wrong ... that's because of the world we live in," she said.
She noted that the actor had been "cancelled" by the state, dropped from his talent agency and had been edited out of a recent rom-com that was just about to be released.
The defence lawyer said there was overwhelming evidence that the allegations were "manufactured".
In a warrant for Busfield's arrest, prosecutors had said the parents of boys alleged that he groomed and sexually abused the youngsters while working on set for The Cleaning Lady.
Authorities claimed the boys referred to Busfield as "Uncle Tim" and alleged that he "would tickle them on the stomach and legs". Both boys told authorities they were touched inappropriately for years, his arrest affidavit states.
One of the boys alleged that Busfield touched his private areas, according to court documents. The boy told authorities that the alleged inappropriate touching started when he was seven years old and he was scared to speak out because he "feared" that Busfield would "get mad at him".
Busfield's lawyers have said the actor was being accused as an act of revenge after the children had been terminated from the series, which angered their mother.
