Britt Jones
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Melissa Gilbert has said she's '100 percent confident' that her director husband Timothy Busfield will be exonerated after being accused of abusing two 11-year-old boys on the set of The Cleaning Lady series.
Busfield, 68, was accused of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct by Albuquerque police in January.
He was later indicted with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor under 13 by a grand jury in Bernalillo County.
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While Busfield has denied any wrongdoing, Gilbert - who has been married to Busfield since 2013 - has now spoken with Good Morning America's George Stephanapolous in her first interview since her husband was charged.
The interview aired on April 6, where the 61-year-old was asked about her stance on the allegations, and she was quick to reveal her full support.
"I am 100 percent confident he will be exonerated," she said.
"But I will tell you that there is a practical side to this, and we do have to be prepared for all scenarios."
Then, when asked what ‘justice’ would look like in this case, the Little House on the Prairie star said: "Exoneration. An apology. Freedom from this cloud."
When the case first began against Busfield, Gilbert wrote a letter to the judge before a January court hearing, where she dubbed him as 'my love, my rock, my partner in business and life'.
Busfield has pleaded not guilty to all four third-degree felony counts, and Gilbert has claimed she knows her husband in her ‘bones’, per her interview, as well as saying he is 'the last person in the world who would hurt a child'.
She told Stephanapolous : “No one knows him better than I do."
"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 added.
"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."
Gilbert said she has decided to speak out after ‘hearing and reading too much untruth’.
She said. "And we felt that the time was right to speak out. Also, I wasn't capable until now. It's been a very traumatic time."
Busfield was also accused of assaulting a 16-year-old girl, in which the father spoke about the alleged moment.
“Our life as we knew it is done,” Gilbert went on to say. “We are grieving what we had - all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects.
"For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled. Even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.