According to New Mexico prosecutors, Timothy Busfield has been charged with child sexual abuse on the set of a television show. He was indicted by a grand jury on February 6 and is accused of touching twin boys on the set of The Cleaning Lady while filming in Albuquerque between November 2022 and spring 2024. Busfield has pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual contact with a child.
Court documents detail the alleged abuse involving the twin boys. One alleged victim told a forensic child interviewer that Busfield touched his 'private areas' on set when he was seven years old. The boy alleged the abuse happened five or six times between filming. He claimed Busfield groped him again when he was eight years old, saying it occurred three or four times. The boy's twin brother told authorities he was also touched by Busfield but did not specify where and said he stayed quiet because he did not want to get in trouble. The specific evidence prosecutors have beyond the children's testimonies has not been disclosed.
She knows this man and she trusts him. She believes him and loves him. That's why she stands behind him.
Busfield's lawyers say the claims were fabricated by the boys' parents in revenge after the twins were not brought back for the show's final season. The reason the twins were not brought back and the parents' alleged motive for fabrication remain unclear.
Melissa Gilbert is standing by husband Timothy Busfield as he faces child sex abuse charges and allegations of sexually assaulting several women. She gave an interview on Good Morning America on Monday, where she said she is 'neither naive nor ... complicit' in standing by Timothy Busfield. Gilbert stated she has exclusively heard Busfield's side of the story and that it is 'the truth', adding she is '100% confident he will be exonerated'. The status of the investigation into the allegations of sexually assaulting several women mentioned by the Daily Mail is unknown.
Look, Melissa has always been an advocate for kids in the business. She grew up in the Wild West of Hollywood kids and teens in the 70s and 80s where they could be victimized again and again, and there was no oversight, no one paid attention. She knows more than most people how abuse happens on sets, with adults around kids. She has heard these stories since she was a little girl. She is passionate about protecting kids. If she thought for even a minute that he was guilty, she would dump his a** so fast.
Privately, Melissa Gilbert believes the explanation that the claims were fabricated by the boys' parents. According to Daily Mail - News, an insider described that Gilbert knows Busfield and trusts him, believing him and loving him, which is why she stands behind him. She has retreated with Busfield to a cottage in upstate New York and told her inner circle she does not believe the accusers and is convinced her husband is innocent. Gilbert said she talked to Busfield about past allegations before their relationship and was satisfied with his explanation.
Past allegations against Busfield include him groping a 16-year-old girl while she auditioned at Sacramento's B Street Theatre, which he co-founded. Authorities reported that the matter with the 16-year-old girl concluded with Busfield attending therapy and the girl's family agreeing not to report him to police. The details of that therapy and whether it was court-mandated are not public. In 1994, a 17-year-old extra on Little Big League claimed Busfield assaulted her after serving her alcohol. Busfield settled the 1994 allegations privately while asserting he was being extorted and was ordered to pay $150,000 in costs after unsuccessfully claiming the allegations were fabricated.
Melissa doesn't take any sort of child abuse lightly and it's absolutely horrifying. She loves this man, but not at the cost of kids. If she thought he was guilty, she wouldn't have done any of the stuff she has done.
Busfield is tentatively scheduled to go to trial in May 2027. He has been allowed to await trial out of custody, though how the judge decided this and what conditions were imposed have not been specified. After Busfield's arrest, more than 70 people wrote letters to the judge pleading he be released before trial, and Melissa Gilbert's letter to the judge was later made public.
Please, please take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart. I am relying on you to protect
I am neither naive, nor am I complicit.
I talked to him about it; I asked him questions about it; I heard his side of the story – which no one [else] has ever heard, which is the truth.
I know this man in my bones. No one knows him better than I do.
100% confident he will be exonerated
I know literally everything about him. He is nothing if not completely honest with me. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.