Gary Busey has pleaded guilty to groping a woman at a 2022 horror movie convention in New Jersey.
Busey was accused of inappropriately touching two women’s buttocks during a photo shoot at Monster Mania at the Doubletree Hotel in Camden on August 13, 2022 – and trying to unhook another victim’s bra, allegedly asking that woman ‘where she got them.’
Despite previously denying any wrongdoing, the Lethal Weapon actor, 81, admitted one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, saying the assault was ‘not an accidental touching’ during a virtual court appearance on Thursday, per Court TV. .
The court hearing saw Busey scolded by Judge Gwendolyn Blue for drinking a canned beverage on camera – before he appeared visibly confused over his plea.
When he was asked by Judge Blue: ‘It is my understanding that you wish to plead guilty to a fourth degree criminal sexual contact today, is that correct?’, Busey looked off camera and asked: ‘Am I pleading guilty? No.’
He was instantly corrected by his legal team who called out ‘yes!’ with Busey saying: ‘I am? Ok I am.’
Gary Busey has pleaded guilty to groping a woman at a 2022 horror movie convention in New Jersey – pictured 2018
Despite previously denying any wrongdoing , the Lethal Weapon actor, 81, admitted one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, saying the assault was ‘not an accidental touching’ during a virtual court appearance on Thursday, per Court TV
Oscar nominee Busey is pictured in Point Break with Keanu Reeves in 1991
Judge Blue responded: ‘No, no, no that’s not how it works’ before clarifying Busey had spoken with his attorneys about the charge.
When asked again if he wanted to plead guilty, Busey said: ‘Yeah.’
Asked about whether he could hear the judge, he said: ‘I have hearing aids and they are working but they only go so high’, adding he could ‘hear fine.’
He again said he wished to plead guilty after further confirmation from Judge Blue.
Busey’s defense attorney Blair Zwillman had argued the indictment should be dismissed due to an alleged ‘faulty investigation’ and claiming the police failed to question certain witnesses.
Judge Blue denied the motion to dismiss.
Under a plea agreement, remaining charges against Busey – which included three additional counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact and one count of attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual contact – will be dismissed
Busey’s sentencing will take place on September 18 via Zoom.
Busey was accused of inappropriately touching two women’s buttocks during a photo shoot at Monster Mania at the Doubletree Hotel in Camden on August 13, 2022 – and trying to unhook another victim’s bra – pictured being questioned by police at the event
Busey is pictured in a recent Instagram post
The court hearing saw Busey scolded by Judge Gwendolyn Blue for drinking a canned beverage on camera – before he appeared visibly confused over his plea
Oscar nominee Busey now faces one to five years of probation and must pay fines, he will also have a criminal record and be required to submit a DNA sample.
Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Gary Busey and has not heard back.
Days after he was charged in 2022, Busey accused the women of ‘making up’ claims he had groped them and said their encounter lasted ‘less than ten seconds.’
‘None of that happened,’ Busey told paparazzi. ‘There was my partner, a camera lady and me and two girls.
‘It took less than ten seconds and then they left. Then they made up a story that I assaulted them sexually when I did not.’
‘So the story’s not true?’ the photographer asked while Busey was pumping gas in Malibu. ‘Nothing happened. It was all false. I was not inappropriate at all. I have eyewitnesses,’ Busey maintained.
A police affidavit from 2022 says Busey asked detectives to apologize to two of his victims and talk them out of pressing charges.
It states that those two victims were taking pictures with Busey in a photoshoot area of the event when the actor ‘placed his face near one of the victim’s breasts and asked her where she got them, before attempting to unlatch her bra strap.’
The other woman claimed Busey grabbed her buttocks, along with a third victim who claimed the same thing, and who made her allegations later on.
Detectives said after they contacted Busey, he claimed ‘that sometimes it is possible to accidentally touch someone in a specific body part.’
At the convention, Busey was said to be appearing alongside other actors including Ralph Macchio, Tom Skerritt and Veronica Cartwright.
A lawyer for the convention, Nikitas Moustakas, said the convention company was ‘assisting authorities in their investigation into an alleged incident involving attendees and a celebrity guest at its convention.’
‘Immediately upon receiving a complaint from the attendees, the celebrity guest was removed from the convention and instructed not to return,’ he said.
Busey was advertised as a featured guest at the Monster Mania Convention in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
The New Jersey convention posted on Facebook that it was assisting authorities in their investigation into the claims of attendees
Just a few days after the convention in 2022, Busey was pictured with his pants around his ankles and his hands buried in his crotch
‘Monster-Mania also encouraged the attendees to contact the police to file a report. The safety and well-being of all our attendees is of the utmost importance to Monster-Mania, and the company will not tolerate any behavior that could compromise those values.’
Just a few days later, Busey was later caught with his pants down as he sat on a Malibu bench with his hand between his legs.
The actor’s spokesman has claimed that the actor maybe needed to relieve himself, which was why he was caught on camera with his pants around his ankles, his hands buried in his crotch.
‘Gary often sits on the bench in front of his home to meditate and look at the ocean,’ said a spokesperson for Busey on Tuesday.
They told Page Six: ‘Our only guess is that perhaps at his age, he realized he couldn’t get to the bathroom in time which explains what happened in the video of him on the bench.’
His representative also said Busey was on private property, but he was in full view of the public, wearing a shirt that referenced the 1991 Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves film Point Break, in which he had a supporting role.
The actor was filmed making his way to a bench at the lookout point, where he sat down, pulled out his phone, and then pulled down his pants.
He then stuck one hand down the front of his pants, appeared to clench his jaw, and then looked around to make sure no bystanders had caught him in the lewd act.
Busey is widely known as a character actor, largely in supporting roles, though he came to attention and was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for playing the title role in the 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story.
His various acting credits include Point Break, Under Siege, Rookie of the Year, Lethal Weapon, and Predator 2.
Busey is married to Steffanie Sampson. The couple has been together since 2006 and got hitched in 2008. They share one son.
Busey also has two children from previous relationships.
His son said that a 1988 motorbike crash significantly altered his father.
He suffered severe damage to the frontal lobe of his brain as a result of the crash, which made him ‘more impulsive and prone to anger and delusions of grandeur,’ according to a 2019 Hollywood Reporter profile.
‘He was a vegetable in a wheelchair staring at the wall,’ said Jake.
‘At 17, I had to teach him with my mom to talk, to eat, to feed himself. To walk again. To write. That was very difficult for me at that age.’
He added: ‘The post-accident version of him turned his personality up to 11.
‘I feel like I lost my dad on December 4, 1988.’
The Hollywood Reporter profile detailed his lack of filter, following the accident.
They reported that while being photographed for the magazine, he asked a slim male photo assistant: ‘Did you used to be a woman? You came out great.’
He then told a female hairstylist: ‘If you’re not having fun, I have something for you to have fun: I’ll tickle you till you pee.’
Busey previously faced drug charges in 1995 when authorities found cocaine during a search of his Malibu home.
He was charged with one count of cocaine possession and three counts of possession of marijuana, possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, and being under the influence of cocaine.
In the past, he has also been arrested on charges of spousal abuse.
In 2011, during a season of Celebrity Apprentice, he was accused of sexually assaulting a female employee of the show.
The actor is perhaps best known for his role in the 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story
Busey is pictured raising a weapon in a scene from the film Hider in the House in 1989
‘We were smoking cigarettes outside, and Busey was standing next to me,’ an employee told the Daily Beast in 2016.
‘And then at one point, he grabbed me firmly between my legs, and ran his hand up my stomach, and grabbed my breasts.
‘I didn’t know what to do.
‘So I made this joke that, ‘Oh, I’ve never been sexually harassed by a celebrity before!’
‘Then he grabbed my hand and put it [over] his penis, and said, like, ‘I’m just getting started, baby.’
