Melissa Gilbert says she didn’t go into her marriage to Timothy Busfield “blind,” explaining that she was aware of earlier sexual assault allegations made against him before they married.
Gilbert and Busfield tied the knot in 2013, one year after the The West Wing actor was accused of groping a 28-year-old woman at a Los Angeles theater.
Busfield maintained the encounter was “consensual,” and prosecutors ultimately chose not to pursue charges.
Years earlier, he was also accused of inappropriate behavior toward a teenage extra on Little Big League, an allegation he denied.
A civil lawsuit was filed in 1994 and, two years later, a judge ordered Busfield to pay $150,000 to a law firm after rejecting his claim that the firm had fabricated a sexual assault case against him, PEOPLE reported.
Busfield is now facing new accusations and has been indicted in New Mexico on four criminal counts of sexual assault of a child.
The alleged incidents are reported to have happened on the set of The Cleaning Lady — a project he directed and produced — and involve two 11-year-old boys.
He has denied the latest allegations. Gilbert has also said she believes her husband is innocent.
In an interview that aired today (April 6), Gilbert spoke with Good Morning America about the case, where George Stephanopoulos questioned her about the earlier allegations involving Busfield.
Gilbert said: “I need to make something abundantly clear. These allegations have been out in the ether for a very long time.”
She continued: “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.
“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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Gilbert said she does not believe her husband would ever harm a child.
“[He’s] the last person in the world who would hurt a child,” the actress shared. “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.”
Busfield’s criminal trial is currently scheduled to begin in May 2027.
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.