Judge orders release of actor Timothy Busfield from New Mexico jail pending child sex abuse trial

A New Mexico judge Tuesday ordered his court to release Hollywood actor Timothy Busfield, most known for his role as journalist Danny Concannon in “The West Wing,” from jail ahead of his trial on child sexual abuse charges.Busfield turned himself in to authorities last week over allegations that he sexually abused two children on the set of the Fox series, “The Cleaning Lady,” which he directed and acted in. An arrest warrant was issued for the actor earlier this month. 
New Mexico District Court Judge David Murphy said Busfield will be supervised upon release by a pretrial services office in Albuquerque, according to the Associated Press, but he can leave the state to return home.
Murphy acknowledged the severity of the charges, which involve minors, but said prosecutors failed to prove that there are no conditions of release that would protect the public’s safety.
“There’s no evidence of a pattern of criminal conduct, there are no similar allegations involving children in his past,” Murphy said. “Rather this defendant self-surrendered and submitted himself to this court’s jurisdiction, demonstrating compliance with the court order for his arrest.”
The order comes after Busfield’s attorneys on Monday submitted two short audio recordings of police interviews in which the children say Busfield did not touch them in the private areas as alleged. However, one of the boys initially disclosed the abuse in a therapy session, according to prosecutors. 
Busfield has publicly denied the abuse allegations and his attorneys have argued that there was a retaliatory motive for the allegations, because the actor claimed he was told that the mother of the children was allegedly upset with him for not bringing the two boys back for the final season of the show.
Warner Bros said it conducted its own independent investigation into the allegations last year but failed to find evidence to support the allegations.
The actor is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and child abuse and could face decades in prison if convicted.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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