Timothy Busfield was once branded a “creep” and accused of sexual harassment by Julia Roberts’ sister-in-law, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Eliza Roberts made her claims in 1994 when a 17-year-old girl accused him of sexual harassment on the set of Little Big League, which the West Wing star denied.
Timothy Busfield Accused of Boasting About Sexual Prowess
Eliza Roberts, who is married to the actress’ brother Eric, claimed Busfield was ‘lewd’ on set and made inappropriate comments.
In the bombshell deposition, Eliza recalls an encounter with Busfield, whom she said she barely knew, which took place five years earlier.
She alleged he spoke of his desires to give her oral sex, claimed he would be “so great in bed” for her, and complained that his wife was a “lousy f—.”
The actor, who has been married to Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert since 2013, was with his first wife at the time.
In total, six other women came forward to offer sworn statements in support of the Minnesota teen’s account, among them Roberts, 73, who is married to the Pretty Woman star’s actor brother, Eric.
Busfield allegedly made unsavoury comments about his ex-wife.
Three of the six women were involved in the production of Little Big League, filmed in Minneapolis in the fall of 1993.
Two were Minneapolis women who testified that Busfield had hit on them in bars in a persistent, unsettling, and aggressively sexual manner.
Busfield, 68, made headlines last month after two young boys accused him of sexually abusing them on the set of Fox’s New Mexico-filmed series The Cleaning Lady.
He was arrested by Albuquerque police on January 9 and held in jail until January 20, insisting that the allegations were “lies.” He will next appear in court on February 4.
His current legal troubles have shone a spotlight on a slew of earlier allegations – reports of which, are said to have prompted Eliza to step forward with her own experience.
A Disturbing Encounter
Busfield’s second wife, Melissa Gilbert, is sticking by him as he battles the latest allegations.
Deposed in 1994, Elizas, then 41, told attorneys: “I read an article in a newspaper several weeks ago about a teenage girl who had worked on a set with Tim Busfield, and she had accused him of lewd and harassing behavior, and I was stunned to hear it because the same thing happened to me with him.”
The case to which she was referring was that of a 17-year-old girl who alleged that Busfield invited her to his trailer, plied her with alcohol, and propositioned her when she was an extra on the movie Little Big League.
In her 1994 deposition, Eliza expressed regret that she had not “taken stronger action” at the time of her own alleged encounter in 1989.
Eliza Roberts expressed regret that she had not ‘taken stronger action’ at the time of her own alleged encounter in 1989.
She had feared negative publicity, as Eliza explained, saying: “These kinds of things can kind of mushroom and get very big.”
Eliza added she did not want to be taken “away from my kids and my husband and my own work.”
After a four-hour hearing on January 20, Judge David A. Murphy denied a prosecution motion and ruled there was no probable cause to show that Busfield should remain behind bars due to a public safety risk.
A tearful Gilbert mouthed, “He’s going home,” after hearing the judge’s decision.
