A new report is shedding light on long-standing allegations against actor and director Timothy Busfield as he now faces criminal charges involving two child actors.
As reported on Tuesday’s AM Update, The Daily Mail exclusively obtained a 1994 deposition in which actress and casting director Eliza Roberts, who is married Julia Roberts’ brother Eric, described Busfield as a “creep” who “harassed and humiliated” her.
The Deposition
Roberts apparently volunteered the sworn statement more than three decades ago after reading an article in the paper about a teenage girl accusing Busfield of lewd and harassing behavior on set of the movie Little Big League.
Roberts told attorneys at the time she was “stunned to hear” the allegations because “the same thing happened to me with him.” That is when Roberts decided to come forward to report her experience with Busfield at a children’s bookstore in Santa Monica.
According to court documents, she recalled that she had met Busfield a few times before through work. He approached her and began chatting. She said the conversation began with talk about kids before it turned to “marriage and passion and sex and divorce.”
“He started to say how he was attracted to me and I just kind of said, ‘Thanks for the compliment, and see you later,'” Roberts claimed. “And I went out to my car and went to put my keys in the ignition and when I turned around to pull out of the space, he was right in my car window.”
That is when she described Busfield making “very graphic” comments, including, The Daily Mail reported, about a graphic sex act he would like to perform on her and a vile complaint about his own wife in bed. Roberts went on to say that Busfield followed her to a car wash where he continued to harass her. She says it was “very hard to get rid of him” and the encounter left her with “a sick feeling inside.”
Five other women also submitted sworn statements in support of the 17 year old’s account, according to The Daily Mail. The lawsuit ultimately settled out of court in 1995.
On Friday, Roberts provided a new statement to the outlet regarding her accusations: “I stand by everything I said then. The reason why I stand by it is because it was true then and it is true now.”
The Current Case
The resurfaced deposition comes as Busfield is facing two counts of criminal misconduct against a minor tied to allegations from now-11-year-old twin boys who acted in Fox’s series The Cleaning Lady when Busfield served as director. According to court records, the boys allege the inappropriate touching began in 2022 when they were 7.
Busfield surrendered to Albuquerque police last month before being released on his own recognizance, with a New Mexico judge citing his lack of criminal history and no corroborating evidence.
The Washington Post reported that, in court filings, prosecutors referenced multiple prior allegations against Busfield, including the incident on the Little Big League set, an allegation that he abused a 16-year-old girl during an audition around 2001, and a 2012 claim that he battered a woman in a movie theater. Busfield was not charged in any of those cases.
Busfield denies the latest allegations. His legal team has said the alleged victims’ parents are motivated by money and revenge and are a couple of con artists. The father was convicted of fraud in another case and disbarred from being an attorney, while the mother allegedly has multiple civil judgements against her for fraud.
The criminal case involving the two young boys remains ongoing.
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