The Hollywood wolf in sheep's clothing

In some more news about the Timothy Busfield sexual abuse scandal, here's some recent coverage by USA Today about the reporter's journey to see the area in New Mexico where the Cleaning Lady TV series was filmed (and it won't be shocking if it doesn't air in reruns again for a long time). Here's something to consider regarding the employment issues:

The boys shared the role, like the Olsen twins played Michelle Tanner on “Full House,” ensuring that neither child was on set for too many hours. When the show began filming in late summer 2021, the boys were 6 and they were allowed to work four hours a day.

The boys each earned between $25,000 and $30,000 per episode, according to court documents. Parents of child actors in New Mexico are only required to put 15% of their salary in a trust for them available when they turn 18.

Toward the end of shooting the third season, in spring 2024, the boys’ mother heard a rumor they might be dropped from the show, according to court documents filed by Busfield’s attorneys.

She was at lunch with Elodie Yung, the show’s lead actress, when Yung’s security guard, Chris Ford, overheard a conversation, he later told defense attorneys.

He said the boys’ mother told Yung that if her boys weren’t brought back, she would “get” Busfield and “have his ass."

But that decision didn’t belong to Busfield. In the somewhat confusing hierarchy of TV show production, the showrunner has creative oversight of the series.

And the showrunner, Daniel Cerone, wanted to replace the boys, he told Albuquerque Police Detective Marvin Brown in an interview recorded Jan. 2. The twins were 10 playing a 6-year-old.

Cerone told Busfield that he didn’t need to audition the twins. “I've seen their work and look, they can't pull it off,” Cerone said, according to a video of the police interview. [...]

“Tim doesn't have the level as a producer or the authority to hire or fire or cast,” Cerone told Brown.

In that case, wouldn't the parents have taken out their anger on the executive producer, which I think is what "showrunner" means these days? So what kind of shameless approach is Busfield's defense making use of? Or, who do they think they are, smearing the parents like that? It gets more chilling with the following:

The father showed Osborne a photo.

Busfield is kneeling, his arms wrapped around the boys’ chests. One boy has his hand on Busfield’s. All three – as well as another crew member – are wearing shirts that say “Hi! Tim Busfield Big Fan.”

While the Screen Actors Guild handbook does not address physical contact off set, it requires parents to supervise their children. The boys’ mother had snapped the photo.

Osborne noted the photo was in “live” mode and captured Busfield “possibly” tickling the boys.

Based on what Busfield's accused of, that's why any tickling he did is in very repulsive form, as is his holding them by the chest. It's decidedly just as offensive as if he'd be holding a woman around her breasts. On which note, let's not forget the testimonies given to date by at least a 5 women who were victimized by Busfield in the years before his arrest and indictment.

One of the boys told caseworkers that when his scenes ended, he was scared and walked quickly to hide behind his dad. [...]

One set teacher told police she noticed one of the boys became uncomfortable after Busfield joined the show.

The teacher “did not understand why [the boy] did not want to go to the set, but he was pretty clear he didn’t want to do it,” the officer wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Those are important clues as to what went on behind the scenes too. And then, there's something odd about what Busfield told investigators:

Busfield told police he wasn’t alone with the boys, but said it’s likely he picked up the boys and tickled them in front of their parents or teacher. “It was a playful environment,” he said.

He pauses.

“I don't remember [tickling] those boys,” Busfield said. “No, I don't, I don't actually. I don't remember it. If it happened, I don't remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn't be uncommon for me."

It sounds like he realized he may have let the mask slip, and tried frantically to walk back/deny his wrongdoings. Put another way, he flip-flopped in his shoddy "defense".

The cases are some of the most difficult to prosecute.

Sex abuse cases don’t often come with the evidence you see with murders.

Juries want emails and eyewitnesses, documented injuries.

Instead, usually they get a child’s voice. An adult’s denial.

Brandenburg-Koch tries to help juries understand these complexities.

“Abusers can be really great people. And they can still abuse children,” she says. “Two things can be true.”

She explains that most children, about 80%, delay telling anyone about abuse until they feel safe, mentally or physically. Most often the abuser is someone they know.

In their combined almost 20 years as prosecutors, Brandenburg-Koch and Reyes say they can’t recall a child making up abuse.

And unfortunately, Busfield's lawyers are trying to make the victims look like the villains. An utter disgrace.

In response to some of this coverage, Northeastern Global News quoted more psychology experts, and here's also what they say in response to the pathetic Hollywooders who tried writing letters in Busfield's defense:

But the letters don’t align with interviews published by USA Today with several women who told stories of being groped and sexually assaulted by Busfield when they were in their teens and twenties.

The contentious case is raising questions about the phenomenon of community grooming.

While the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) describes grooming as “the deliberate act of building trust with a child, teen or at-risk adult (such as an adult with a cognitive impairment) for the purpose of exploiting them sexually,” community grooming is a relatively new term for an age-old tactic.

It describes how perpetrators attempt to win over the intended victim’s family, friends and community, knowing “that building a good reputation is the most effective way to avoid detection,” RAINN says.

The reality is that having a good guy persona is not incongruous with being a predator, said Northeastern University experts on sexual and domestic violence.

Being a trusted member of a church, school, theatrical group or sports club can be a shield for those who want to avoid the shadow of suspicion — and to increase their exposure to potential victims, according to Northeastern professors Carlos Cuevas and Hayat Bearat, who said they are speaking in general and not about Busfield’s case.

Cuevas, a psychologist and professor of criminology and criminal justice, said in his work with offenders, “one of the things they would talk about is this idea of grooming those around you” to think of them as a nice person and upstanding member of the community.

“That will help hide any nefarious behavior that they’re engaged in,” he said. They would think, “‘How do I make it so I don’t get found out?’”

In Busfield’s case, an arrest warrant affidavit concluded that the director, who has denied the charges, used a dual tactic of “charming parents while secretly violating the child,” using his authority on a hectic TV set to his advantage.

It’s also not unusual for predators with a degree of fame, including those locally famous in religious or other communities, to get away with sexual abuse for quite some time, Bearat said. In Busfield’s case, the alleged incidents date back to 1994, with other allegations in the interim years.

Here's also something else I found in the replies to a post on X:

A comment on @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/MzIF0yTM3F

— LightningInHerEyes (@Wakinyan_Winyan) April 9, 2026

So Busfield was going after 14-year-olds at the time he was a co-manager of a theater company? Absolutely repulsive. And his current wife Melissa Gilbert's making things worse with her continued apologia. Her claim she knew about accusations against him before they married sounds hard to swallow, but what's really disturbing is that here, she allegedly knew about them yet married him anyway. That doesn't reflect well on her judgement at all.

I don't know what the exact outcome of the official trial coming next year will be, but for now, we must hope the court of public opinion will ensure Busfield's career and reputation are kaput. And even Gilbert's going to have to be shunned.