Celebrity Home in Hudson Valley Raided by U.S. Marshals

A quiet Hudson Valley town was turned upside down this week as authorities broke into a celebrity home in connection with serious allegations.

Actor and TV director Timothy Busfield is facing serious criminal charges in New Mexico tied to allegations involving minors while he was working as a director on the series The Cleaning Lady, which filmed in Albuquerque. Police there obtained an arrest warrant on January 9 for two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, according to reporting based on court documents.

The 68-year-old celebrity has denied the allegations. His attorney has said the claims are false and has pointed to an independent polygraph exam that he says Busfield passed.

U.S. Marshals Raid Highland Lakes Home

After the warrant was issued, Busfield’s whereabouts remained unclear for several days. The U.S. Marshals Service got involved in an effort to locate him. A source familiar with the situation told People that marshals went to the Sullivan County, New York home Busfield shares with his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, but got no response.

According to that reporting, marshals kept eyes on the property, spoke with neighbors, and after about forty-eight hours without contact, entered the house because they did not know if he was avoiding law enforcement or could be in danger. The home was empty, and the source said nothing was removed from the residence.

Busfield and Gilbert's Celebrity Home in Sullivan County

Busfield and Gilbert's Catskills hideaway is located on Mud Pond Road in Highland Lakes, New York.

The celebrity couple moved to Sullivan County in 2019 after marrying in 2013. Gilbert has chronicled the decision to leave their glamorous Hollywood life and retreat to Highland Lakes in a book titled Back to the Prairie. The couple owns 14 acres of land and a small, rustic cottage where they enjoy gardening and raising chickens. The book describes the home as a fixer-upper that needed lots of work and renovations after they moved in.

Busfield and Gilbert are regulars around town and are frequently seen out and about.

Busfield has since surrendered to Albuquerque police and has appeared in court in New Mexico, where he was ordered held without bond pending further hearings.