Timothy Busfield 'feels wonderful' after being released from custody in child sex abuse case

Timothy Busfield "feels wonderful" after being released from jail amid his ongoing child sex abuse case.

The West Wing actor surrendered himself to the authorities in New Mexico last week and was officially charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.

After being held in Metropolitan Detention Center in Bernalillo County for a week, the 68-year-old was released on his own recognizance during a pretrial detention hearing on Tuesday.

State district court judge David Murphy ordered Busfield to be supervised upon release by a pretrial service in Albuquerque and attend all future court dates.

Reacting to the news, Busfield's civil attorney, Larry Stein, told People that the actor "feels wonderful" following his release.

"He can reunite with (his wife) Melissa (Gilbert)," Stein noted, adding that the actress is "very, very excited".

The Little House on the Prairie star, who was present for the hearing, reportedly cried in the courtroom as the judge announced Busfield's release and whispered, "Thank you, God."

The Field of Dreams actor stands accused of sexually abusing 11-year-old twins in Albuquerque on the set of the show The Cleaning Lady, which he was directing.

Before turning himself in, Busfield denied the allegations in a TMZ video, insisting he "did not do anything to those little boys and I'm gonna fight it".

During the hearing, the judge ruled that the actor was allowed to travel and leave the state to live at his home. However, he cannot consume any alcohol or illegal drugs, contact the alleged victims or their families, talk about the case with witnesses, or have unsupervised contact with minors.