Melissa Gilbert emotionally defended her husband Timothy Busfield after he pled not guilty to child sexual abuse charges.
The 61-year-old actress – who married The West Wing actor in 2013 – made a candid appearance during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America which aired on Monday.
Busfield was indicted by a grand jury on February 6 and accused of touching two children on set of The Cleaning Lady while filming in Albuquerque between November 2022 and spring 2024.
The Little House On The Prairie star maintained her husband’s innocence while also revealing that she had known of his past sexual assault allegations before their marriage.
‘I know this man in my bones. No one knows him better than I do. I know literally everything about him,’ she expressed.
‘Our marriage has had a lot of ups and downs, we’ve been through our struggles, we’ve had our own issues to deal with, and we’ve worked through everything.’
Melissa Gilbert, 61, emotionally defended her husband Timothy Busfield after he pled not guilty to child sexual abuse charges
‘I know this man in my bones. No one knows him better than I do. I know literally everything about him,’ she expressed; seen in 2020 in NYC
Gilbert added that Busfield is ‘completely honest with’ her and she fully trusts him.
‘I trust him with my children’s lives, I trust him with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.’
However, the actress then told the GMA host that their ‘life as we knew it is done’ and they ‘are grieving what we had.’
She continued, ‘For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled… even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. The last person in the world who would hurt a child.’
Elsewhere during the interview, Gilbert revealed that she had been ‘aware’ of other past sexual assault allegations against Busfield before their marriage.
‘I need to make something very abundantly clear,’ she began.
‘These allegations have been out in the ether for a very long time. When Tim and I got together, the internet existed.’
She further expressed, ‘I didn’t go into my relationship blind. I’m neither naive nor am I complicit,’ before adding that she had a previous discussion about the topic with Busfield.
She continued, ‘For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled… even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. The last person in the world who would hurt a child’; Busfield’s January 13 mugshot seen above
Elsewhere during the interview, Gilbert revealed that she had been ‘aware’ of other past sexual assault allegations against Busfield before their marriage
The actress shared that she ‘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.’
Gilbert also expressed her full belief that Busfield ‘will be exonerated.’
However, the star noted ‘that there is a practical side to this and we have to be prepared for all scenarios.’
The actress was later asked how the allegations against Busfield and the indictment have affected them, causing her to describe it as ‘hell.’
‘This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives.’
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