Timothy Busfield paid $150K to law firm in 1996 for child sexual assault case

Timothy Busfield once had to pay $150,000 to a Minneapolis law firm for a case involving allegations of child sexual assault.

The incident occurred in 1996, 30 years before a warrant was issued for the 68-year-old “West Wing” actor’s arrest in connection with child sex abuse charges.

At the time, U.S. District Judge James Ideman ordered Busfield to pay the firm Messerli & Kramer $150,000, the amount it cost the company to defend itself in a defamation suit filed by Busfield, according to Deseret News.

Busfield had claimed that the firm made up a story that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl who was an extra on the set of his 1973 movie “Little Big League.”

The actor settled a lawsuit with the girl for an undisclosed amount, per Deseret News.

The Post has reached out to Busfield’s rep and Messerli & Kramer for comment.

Busfield is currently being wanted in New Mexico on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.

The Albuquerque Police Department, in an arrest warrant released Friday, alleged that the “Field of Dreams” actor engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with a pair of 11-year-old twins while directing the Fox show “The Cleaning Lady” in 2024.

One of the alleged victims claimed that the shocking incidents first started when he and his brother were 7 years old.

The investigation into Busfield reportedly kicked off in November 2024 when a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital alerted police about suspected sexual abuse and grooming involving the minors, per the warrant.

The APD initially declined to press charges against Busfield, but the case was said to be reopened in September 2025 when one of the kids told his counselor and then pediatrician that Busfield “touched him on his penis and bottom.”

It’s unclear if Busfield has been booked as of Sunday morning.

The arrest warant also stated that Busfield’s wife, “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert, was present during Busfield’s phone call with a detective investigating the allegations in November 2025.

During, the call, Busfield allegedly said it was “highly likely” that he had “physical contact” with the twins while filming “The Cleaning Lady.”

“I don’t remember those boys,” he also said, according to the affidavit. “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.”

Busfield has been married to Gilbert, 61, since 2013.

Along with “The West Wing,” Busfield is best known for his role as Elliot Weston on the hit ABC series “Thirtysomething,” which won him an Emmy Award in 1991.