Melissa Gilbert has defended her husband, Timothy Busfield, after he was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child and as he awaits a trial.
“This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives,” Gilbert tells ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an April 6 sit-down interview via a video clip previewed on Thursday.
After his arrest on child sex abuse allegations on the set of the former Fox/Warner Bros. Television series The Cleaning Lady. Gilbert maintained the innocence of her husband, an actor and director.
“For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled. Even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy, the last person in the world who would hurt a child. And believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison,” Gilbert said while seated next to Busfield’s lawyer, Larry Stein.
Busfield has denied allegations that he abused the children, who were allegedly touched on multiple occasions on the set of The Cleaning Lady in Albuquerque. The charges against Busfield relate to alleged touching on two separate occasions, once in October 2022 and again in September 2023. Each count carries a minimum sentence of three years, which can’t be suspended or deferred. Busfield earlier was released from jail after his arrest.
“Our life as we knew it is done. We are grieving what we had — all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects,” Gilbert told Stephanopoulos after insisting their life at the moment is “hell.” So far, Busfield’s defense has revolved around arguments that the parents of the children were looking for vengeance against him for recasting them in the fourth season of the Fox series after they aged out of their roles.
Gilbert’s interview will air on Good Morning America on April 6.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
#Melissa #Gilbert #Defends #Timothy #Busfield #Person #Hurt #Child
