Gary Busey charged with sexual offenses at New Jersey convention

Actor Gary Busey is facing charges of sexual misconduct and harassment stemming from his behavior at a fan convention in New Jersey, police said on Saturday.

Police in Cherry Hill, a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia, charged the 78-year-old Busey with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one of attempted criminal sexual contact and another of harassment, officers said in a statement.

The charges stem from offenses at the annual horror film-focused Monster Mania convention at the Doubletree Hotel from 12 to 14 August in Cherry Hill, police added.

Busey, who lives in Malibu, California, was scheduled as a featured guest for all three days of the event.

It remains unclear whether Busey has an attorney to issue comments about the charges on his behalf.

“It was about contact – it was about touching,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Cherry Hill Township police lieutenant Robert Scheunemann saying.

According to the police, they had received “multiple complaints” about Busey’s behavior.

“We’re not commenting,” a spokesperson from the local county prosecutor’s office said in regards to the charges.

Busey is widely known as a character actor who has appeared in more than 100 movies, largely in supporting roles. His various acting credits include Point Break, Under Siege, Rookie of the Year, Lethal Weapon and Predator 2.

He came to international attention when he was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for playing the title role in the 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story.

Busey faced drug charges in 1995 after authorities found cocaine and other narcotics during a search of his Malibu home. His charges included one count of cocaine possession and three counts of possession of marijuana, possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms and being under the influence of cocaine.

Busey has also been previously arrested on charges of spousal abuse. During the 2011 season of Celebrity Apprentice, he was accused of sexually assaulting a female employee of the show.

“We were smoking cigarettes outside, and Busey was standing next to me,” the 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.’”

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