A public defense years in the making finally came into focus as Melissa Gilbert addressed long-standing accusations against her husband, Timothy Busfield, amid a new wave of criminal charges.
According to Fox News, while speaking during a sit-down on “Good Morning America,” Gilbert made clear she was not blindsided by past allegations tied to Busfield’s name. Instead, she said those claims were already known to her well before their 2013 marriage.
“I need to make something abundantly clear,” Gilbert, 61, said. “These allegations have been out in the ether for a very long time.”
She emphasized that she entered the relationship fully informed.
“When Tim and I got together, the internet existed. I didn’t go into my relationship blind. I’m neither naive nor am I complicit,” she said. “I talked to him about it. I asked him questions about it. I heard his side of the story — which nobody has ever heard — which is the truth. And when the time is right, and that is not now, Tim will tell the truth of all of these past allegations when he needs to.”
Busfield, known for his role on “The West Wing,” pleaded not guilty after a grand jury indicted him on four counts of criminal sexual contact involving a child.
The charges stem from allegations made by 11-year-old twins who claimed inappropriate touching while working with him on the set of “The Cleaning Lady.”
Gilbert firmly rejected the accusations, expressing unwavering trust in her husband.
“No one knows him better than I do,” she explained. “I know literally everything about him. Our marriage has, you know, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We’ve been through struggles, we’ve had our own issues to deal with and we worked through everything.”
“He’s nothing if not completely honest with me,” she added. “I trust him with my children’s lives, with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”
Despite her defense, Gilbert acknowledged the toll the situation has taken. During the interview, she did not hold back when describing the emotional fallout.
“What has this whole episode been like for you?” asked George Stephanopoulos.
“Hell,” she responded.
“Our life as we knew it is done,” she continued. “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. Even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. [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.”
Busfield turned himself in to authorities and was later released, with a judge noting no established pattern of similar conduct. Still, the indictment allows the case to move forward.
Gilbert said her decision to speak publicly came after months of silence.
“It’s time,” she said. “We’ve been hearing and reading too much — untruth. And we felt that the time was right to speak out. Also, honestly, I wasn’t capable until now. It’s been a very traumatic time.”
Busfield’s attorney, Larry Stein, also weighed in, stating, “We appreciate George for taking the time to clarify some important facts in this case. We hope the remainder of the interview airing on tonight’s ‘Nightline’ will make clear that the parents are criminals: one served more than three years in jail and lost their license to practice law for defrauding 1,500 people of $6,000,000, and the other for writing bad checks and stealing cars.”
