Melissa Gilbert plans to leave her longtime New York apartment while her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, awaits trial on child sexual abuse charges.
The “Little House on the Prairie” star revealed Tuesday that she is leaving the Upper West Side apartment she has called home for the past eight years and moving full-time to a property in upstate New York that was raided by federal agents earlier this year.
“The perfect little one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. The last eight years here have been very special,” Gilbert, 62, wrote on Instagram.
“There was so much great work done in and around the city. There were so many theaters and soundstages. So many great dinners with friends and nights out on the town.”
The actress also reflected on what she misses most about living on the Upper West Side as she prepares to leave the Manhattan area.
“I will miss the walks, the neighborhood, the subway rides, the wonderful people I met there and the people I met on the streets. This city truly has a pulse,” she wrote.
“We can feel it in our hearts. Goodbye to our favorite newsstands, retail stores, dance studios, and laundries. Goodbye to shoe repair, dry cleaning, and nail salons. Goodbye to our kind neighbors that we love so much. And a very nostalgic ‘see you soon’ to our favorite city in the world.”
Gilbert’s move comes months after Busfield was arrested in January on criminal child abuse and sexual contact charges in New Mexico, stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched 7-year-old twin boys during a 2022 production of Fox’s “Cleaning Women.”
The 69-year-old, who denies the charges, was formally charged on February 6 with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under 13.
Busfield pleaded not guilty on February 21 after waiving his arraignment and pretrial proceedings. His trial is scheduled to begin in May 2027.
Gilbert did not explain the reason for the move, but suggested it came at a difficult time for her family.
“I promise I’ll be back, that’s what it is for now…well…you know,” she wrote. “I’m excited to be able to live full-time and for a long time in a great home in the upstate.”
Shortly after Ms. Busfield turned herself in to authorities in Albuquerque in January, heavily armed federal agents raided the couple’s Highland Lake, New York, home.
Members of the New York Regional Fugitive Task Force used a battering ram to enter the property before searching the residence and surrounding buildings.
Gilbert has publicly supported her husband throughout the incident.
After Basfield’s arrest, he largely stayed away from public posting, but returned to social media in May.
She also revealed in a recent interview on “Good Morning America” that she knew about the sexual assault allegations against Busfield before they married in 2013.
“I’m not naive or an accomplice,” Gilbert told George Stephanopoulos. “I told him about it. I asked him about it.”
“I heard a side of him that no one has ever heard, and it’s the truth,” she continued.
“And Tim will tell the truth of all these past allegations when the time is right, not now, but when the time is right.”
