Melissa Gilbert knew about her husband Timothy Busfield’s past sexual assault allegations before they married in 2013.
The actress clarified to Good Morning America viewers on Monday that she “didn’t go into our relationship blindly,” noting that “the internet existed” when she “dated” the director a year before their wedding.
“I’m not naive or an accomplice,” she explained to George Stephanopoulos in a new interview, “I told him about it. I asked him about it.”
The “Little House on the Prairie” alum made this “very clear” during the sit-down, which was Bassfield’s first interview since his January arrest.
“These allegations have been kept in the dark for a very long time,” the 61-year-old added, referring to previous accusations made against Busfield in 1994 and 2012. “I heard his side of the story that no one has ever heard, and this is the truth.
“And when the time is right, not now, Tim will tell you the truth about all of these past allegations, if necessary,” she continued.
Busfield, 68, was arrested in January on charges of child abuse and criminal sexual contact of a minor for allegedly inappropriately touching two 7-year-old twin male actors on Fox’s “Cleaning Women” series.
The abuse allegations date back to 2022.
The “West Wing” alum, who denies the “horrific” charges, was formally charged on February 6 with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13.
He pleaded not guilty on February 21st.
Gilbert took a united front with her partner on Monday, calling the scandal “hell” and the “most traumatic experience” of her and Busfield’s lives.
“Our life as we knew it was over,” she told Stephanopoulos. “We grieve what we had. All the plans, all the dreams, all the ideas, all the projects. For Tim, it’s over. He’s canceled. Even if he’s proven innocent, he’ll always be that guy.”
She claimed that Busfield was “the last person on earth who would hurt a child.”
“No one knows him better than me. I literally know everything about him… We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. We’ve been through struggles, we’ve had issues we’ve had to deal with on our own, we’ve been through everything,” the child star claimed.
“He is nothing if not completely honest with me. I trust him with my children’s lives, my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews’ lives. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”
Gilbert was previously married to actors Beau Brinkman and Bruce Boxleitner, with whom she has one son.
Busfield divorced his first two wives, Radha Delamater and Jenny Merwin, in 1986 and 2007, respectively. He has three children.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call our Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
