Nearly three months after her husband, Timothy Busfield, was accused of child abuse, Melissa Gilbert speaks out.
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In a new interview with Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos, the Little House on the Prairie star defended her husband.
“Our life as we knew it is done,” she said while opening up about the situation. “We are grieving what we had — all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects. For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled.”
Gilbert also admitted to not being hopeful if Busfield is exonerated of the alleged crimes.
“Even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy,” she continued. “[He’s] the last person in the world who would hurt a child. And believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison.”
The Albuquerque Police Department issued a warrant for Busfield’s arrest in early January after he was accused of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old boys. He had met the children while on the set of Fox’s series The Cleaning Lady.
Less than a week later, Busfield surrendered to law enforcement. He was released from custody under court-ordered conditions.
Gilbert Was Among the 75 People Who Wrote Letters of Support For Busfield to the Judge
In a letter to the judge presiding over the case, Gilbert spoke about her love for Busifeld, describing the West Wing alum as her love, rock, and partner “in business and life.”
She wrote that she knows Busfield “better and more intimately than anything in his life ever has.”
“I only want this extraordinary man safe and whole,” Gilbert wrote. “So, I will close by asking you to please, please, take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now, and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart. I am relying on your to protect him for me.”
The Bernalillo County grand jury indicted Busfield on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. The charges pertain to events that occurred in October 2022 and September 2023.
The actor has denied all allegations and has pleaded not guilty.