Gary Busey charged with criminal sexual contact after Con appearance

Gary Busey finds himself in legal trouble this weekend, as THR reports that the actor has been charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one count of attempted criminal sexual contact, and one count of harassment—all in relation to an appearance Busey made at New Jersey’s Monster-Mania Convention between August 12 and August 14 of this year.

The charges against Busey were reported on the Facebook page of Cherry Hill, New Jersey’s Police Department, where the actor was described as “Gary Busey, 78, of Malibu California.” The post also notes that the investigation is still underway, and that all of the alleged incidents happened at the Doubletree Hotel in Cherry Hill.

No details about the incidents have been released, although a perusal of New Jersey’s legal statutes on sexual assault—and no, we weren’t expecting that to end up in our Google search histories today, either—brings up this definition for “sexual contact”: “‘Sexual contact’ means an intentional touching by the victim or actor, either directly or through clothing, of the victim’s or actor’s intimate parts for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim or sexually arousing or sexually gratifying the actor. Sexual contact of the actor with himself must be in view of the victim whom the actor knows to be present.” (“Criminal sexual contact,” meanwhile, appears to cover any of the above that happens without the other party’s consent.)

Monster-Mania runs several times a year in locations up and down the east coast of the United States; Busey was one of the big names attached to its most recent outing. Although he continues to work regularly in smaller parts—including in the Sharknado films and other genre roles—Busey hasn’t worked in a high-profile Hollywood production in several years. Per THR, representatives for the actor haven’t responded to requests for comment.