Melissa Gilbert Knew About Timothy Busfield’s Past Sexual Assault Allegations Before Marrying

Melissa Gilbert is talking out about husband Timothy Busfield‘s previous allegations of sexual assault.

The actress sat down for an interview with Good Morning America‘s George Stephanopoulos that aired on Monday, April 6. Stephanopoulos requested about two earlier allegations of sexual assault towards Busfield from 1994 and 2012. The Albuquerque Police Department officer who issued the warrant towards Busfield pertaining to his newest expenses referenced “two separate” prior incidents of sexual assault towards Busfield, one from the Nineteen Nineties and one other round 2012.

“I need to make something abundantly clear. These allegations have been out in the ether for a very long time,” Gilbert, 61, mentioned of her husband, whom she married in April 2013.

“When Tim and I got together, the internet existed. I didn’t go into my relationship blind. I’m neither naive nor am I complicit,” she mentioned. “I talked to him about it. I asked him questions about it. I 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.”

Busfield’s earlier accusations embody an accusation involving a 17-year-old additional on Little Big League who “sued in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming Busfield assaulted her, served her alcohol, groped her, attempted sex in a trailer.” Per the warrant, Busfield denied the allegations and countersued for extortion. That dispute settled, and his later “defamation bid against her lawyers got tossed, leaving him to foot nearly $150,000 in costs. No charges filed.” (After Busfield appealed the prices award, the events settled the case.)

The second previous allegation dates to March 18, 2012, when a 28-year-old lady accused Busfield of battery in an L.A. movie show, alleging he “slipped hands under clothes, touched genitals for four minutes,” per the arrest warrant. No lawsuit was filed, prosecutors “passed due to slim evidence” and Busfield “called it consensual,” per the warrant.

Busfield surrendered to police on Jan. 13 after an arrest warrant was issued by the Albuquerque Police Department on Jan. 9 relating to allegations that he engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old boys, whom he met on the set of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady. He was charged with two counts of legal sexual contact of a minor and one depend of kid abuse on allegations that he engaged in illegal sexual conduct with 11-year-old twin boys.

The actor, 68, was released from custody on Jan. 20 after a pretrial detention listening to in San Bernalillo, N.M., and on Feb. 6, he was indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury on 4 counts of legal sexual contact of a minor (baby underneath 13). Busfield pleaded not guilty to all four counts — that are all third-degree felonies and pertain to occasions in October 2022 and September 2023, per court docket paperwork — on Feb. 10, per a plea entry filed in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court.

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A rep for Gilbert informed PEOPLE that the Little House on the Prairie alum and Busfield’s lawyer Larry Stein wished to talk with Stephanopoulos as a result of she “decided it was time to sit down to clarify the facts of the case, which seem to have become lost to distraction, selective information and clickbait.”

During the interview, Gilbert mentioned it has been “hell” ever since her husband was arrested. “This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives.”

“Our life as we knew it is done,” she mentioned. “We are grieving what we had — all of our plans, all of our goals, all of our concepts, all of our tasks. For Tim, it is performed. He’s canceled. Even if he is exonerated, he’ll all the time be that man.”

Gilbert mentioned her husband of 13 years is “the last person in the world who would hurt a child.”

“No one knows him better than I do. I know literally everything about him. Our marriage has, you know, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We’ve been through struggles, we’ve had our own issues to deal with and we worked through everything,” she mentioned. “He’s nothing if not completely honest with me. I trust him with my children’s lives, with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”

Busfield additionally spoke out earlier than he surrendered to police on Jan. 13 in a video obtained by TMZ on the time. “I did not do anything,” he mentioned on digicam. “They’re all lies and I did not do anything to those little boys and I’m gonna fight it. I’m gonna fight it with a great team, and I’m gonna be exonerated, I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.”

In a Jan. 26 statement shared through her firm, Modern Prairie, Gilbert spoke about the “extraordinarily difficult” situation she and her family are in.

“This season has reminded me, very clearly, how important it is to slow down, prioritize what truly matters, and allow ourselves moments of rest. Stepping back from the noise, the news, and even our daily responsibilities from time to time gives us space to recharge, reflect, and find our center again,” she wrote.

If you believe you studied baby abuse, name the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is accessible 24/7 in additional than 170 languages.