Gary Busey pleads guilty to groping woman at horror film convention

The ‘Lost Highway’ star admitted incident was ‘not an accidental touching’

Gary Busey has plead guilty to groping a woman at a horror movie convention in New Jersey in 2022.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 81, was a featured guest at that year’s Monster-Mania Convention held at the Double Tree Hilton hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

About a week after the event in August 2022 he was accused of groping five women while they were having their photo taken with him and charged with committing several sexual offences.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that authorities alleged Busey grabbed the buttocks of two women and attempted to unhook a third woman’s bra while putting his face near her breasts.

Busey initially denied the claims, but according to The Guardian he admitted during a virtual court appearance this week that “it was not an accidental touching.”

In exchange for Busey’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three other counts of criminal sexual contact and one count of attempted criminal sexual contact.

Gary Busey attending the Academy Awards in February 2016 (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

In a statement to People, Busey’s criminal defense attorney Blair Zwillman explained that in order for the judge to accept his guilty plea “there has to be a factual basis where he admits the offense. He had to admit that it was non-consensual.”

Zwillman added: “This was the best disposition for him. He's glad to put this behind him. He is basically a family guy. He is not a criminal.”

Judge Gwendolyn Blue has tentatively set a virtual sentencing hearing for September 18. Busey is reportedly likely to face fines, one to five years of probation and he must submit a DNA sample to authorities.

“We're going to ask that he'd just be fined and end it,” said Zwillman.

Busey was nominated for an Academy Award for his titular role in The Buddy Holly Story in 1978. He went on to appear in a string of popular action movies in the 1980s and 90s including Point Break, Drop Zone and Eye of the Tiger.

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In 1988, he suffered a serious brain injury in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles, undergoing emergency neurosurgery and spending months in a rehabilitation clinic.

He has also appeared in reality TV shows including Celebrity Apprentice and won the British version of Celebrity Big Brother in 2014.

In 2023, Busey was accused of causing a hit-and-run accident in Malibu, California.

The other driver identified Busey and claimed that he “refused to stop after the collision occurred and refused to provide proof of registration and financial responsibility.”