New Timothy Busfield Legal Papers Include Eyewitness Accounts From ‘Shocked’ Cast and Crew

New legal papers filed by Timothy Busfield on Friday, January 16, have shed light on an independent investigation into his alleged behavior with children on the set of The Cleaning Lady.

The director’s opposition to the state’s motion for pretrial detention, obtained by the National Enquirer, includes the alleged confidential report, in which multiple cast and crew members address multiple, claims including that the West Wing alum, 68, kissed a minor male actor on the face,  and that he “isolated,” “groomed” and “inappropriately touched” a pair of twin child actors on the show.

“Every witness was ‘shocked’ by the allegations that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature or otherwise, especially toward minor children,” independent workplace investigator Christina McGovern, who is a partner at Soloman Law, allegedly concluded in a report about her probe, which took place at the behest of Warner Brothers Studios in March after an anonymous complaint was made through the SAG-AFTRA hotline last February. She conducted a follow-up investigation after another complaint was made in July.

“Witnesses described Mr. Busfield as ‘caring’ and ‘patient’ with all actors on set, including the minor actors, to ensure everyone felt comfortable and at ease,” added McGovern, who allegedly interviewed star Elodie Yung as well as members of the production team,  hairdressers, set teachers and parents of other child actors on the show for her initial report and an addendum in September.

No one reported witnessing any of the alleged behavior or any instances of him acting inappropriately. Several witnesses also noted that it would be highly unlikely for Busfield to have been alone with the boys.

“Only one witness had any information tangentially related to the allegations,” the alleged report reads. Yung recalled meeting the twins’ mother for coffee about a month after they were let go and replaced with another actor. “The parent showed Ms. Yung a photo she had taken onset with her twin boys standing on either side of Mr. Busfield with his arms around them. According to Ms. Yung, the parent said something to her, and although she cannot recall specifically what it was, the parent insinuated that the Mr. Busfield was behaving inappropriately in the photo. Ms. Yung told Ms.McGovern that she told the parent that she did not see anything strange in the photo. Ms. Yung found the parent’s comment ‘weird’ and was so uncomfortable by it that she has since ‘distanced’ herself from the family.”

McGovern concluded that the evidence did not support any of the complaints against Busfield.

The filing also includes affidavits from several crew members. “I do not recall a single instance during the entire four years on that show where I ever saw any adult alone with any of the children on set,” Alan Caudillo, lead director of photography, said in his, adding that the twins’ father “creeped me out” because he forced the children to give him hugs.

Chris Ford, a driver for the show, also noted that the twins’ father forced them to hug adults, including Busfield, in his affidavit.

As for the anonymous allegations which seemed to suggest that Busfield had also kissed the child actor who replaced the twins after they were let go, the boy’s parents insist that never occurred in their interviews with McGovern. The boy’s mother, Lehi Lazo, also provided an affidavit.

“I never witnessed and am not aware of any instance in which Timothy Busfield could have been alone with [my son] or any other child actor on set,” she said. “I never saw Timothy Busfield acting inappropriately towards [my son] or any other child on set. Based on my observations, I never felt or saw any of his interactions with the child actors to be inappropriate.”

Busfield, who has been arrested and charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, filed the papers ahead of his pretrial detention hearing, which is scheduled for Tuesday, January 20.