Melissa Gilbert Makes Blunt Admission Amid Husband Timothy Busfield’s Charges

Warning: The following post reports on allegations of child sexual abuse.

Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert made a blunt admission after her husband, Timothy Busfield, was arrested earlier this year on child sexual assault charges.

On Tuesday, October 13, the actress, 62, took to Instagram with a video featuring a lake in the Catskill Mountains in New York.

“There’s a lot going on in the world (and in my life) right now. A lot of uncertainty and turmoil,” Gilbert confessed in a since-deleted post, per Us Weekly. “A lot of sorrow. There’s also a lot of joy and beauty and peace to be had.”

She continued, “When I feel unsettled, unsafe or unsure, all I have to do is walk across the street and see serenity and hope with my own two eyes. This is the place where my shoulders lower, my jaw unclenches and my mind stops racing. I love where we live.”

In mid-January, Busfield, 69, turned himself in after the Albuquerque Police Department issued an arrest warrant. It came after allegations that he engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with twin 11-year-old actors he met on the set of The Cleaning Lady. The alleged abuse began when one of the victims was 7.

Busfield pleaded not guilty on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor (child under 13) in February.

In an April interview with Good Morning America, Gilbert spoke out in defense of her husband.

“Our life as we knew it is done,” she said. “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. [He’s] 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 then declared, “I am 100 percent confident he will be exonerated.”

In a January video message shared with TMZ, Busfield denied all allegations.

“They’re all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys, and I’m gonna fight it,” he declared. “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. So hang in there, and hopefully, I’m out real soon and back to work. I love everybody for supporting me. Thank you.”

Busfield’s trial is set to begin in May 2027. The thirtysomething actor and Gilbert have been married since 2013.

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is the victim of child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.