Gilbert defends busfield, faces 'life done' after abuse charges
Melissa Gilbert, the beloved star of Little House on the Prairie, is grappling with a devastating reality: the collapse of her life as she knew it, following the child sexual abuse charges leveled against her husband, Timothy Busfield. In a preview of an interview slated to air Monday on Good Morning America, Gilbert offered a staunch, if emotionally raw, defense of the actor, a stance that has already ignited a firestorm of debate.
A marriage fractured by allegations
Gilbert’s declaration, delivered to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, paints a picture of profound shock and grief. “This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives – our life as we knew it is done,” she stated, her voice thick with emotion. She insists Busfield, whom she married in 2013, is “the last person in the world who would hurt a child,” a sentiment that clashes sharply with the accusations and a troubling pattern of past allegations.
The charges, stemming from a grand jury indictment in Albuquerque, New Mexico, accuse Busfield of four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, allegedly occurring between November 2022 and spring 2024 while he served as a director and actor on The Cleaning Lady. The alleged victim, a young boy, claims inappropriate touching both when he was seven and eight years old, with his twin brother also reporting similar incidents.
But the current case isn't isolated. Prosecutors have unearthed a history of unsettling encounters, painting a picture far more complex than Gilbert's current defense. In 1994, a 17-year-old extra on Little Big League accused Busfield of assault after serving her alcohol; a settlement of $150,000 was reached. Another allegation arose in 2012, involving a 28-year-old woman who claimed Busfield fondled her at a Los Angeles movie theater, though no legal action was taken. Even a 16-year-old auditioning at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre, a theater Busfield co-founded, alleges groping, an incident resolved with therapy for the girl and a commitment from her family to forgo legal action.
Busfield has vehemently denied all accusations, dismissing them as “all lies” in a statement released to TMZ. Yet, the sheer volume of allegations, stretching back decades, casts a long shadow over his career and raises profound questions about the veracity of his claims.