What to Know
Two weeks after Melissa Gilbert‘s husband, Timothy Busfield, was arrested on child sex abuse charges, the former Little House on the Prairie star is opening up about the situation with her fans. This week, she shared a statement on Instagram responding to her husband’s arrest as their family is awaiting his trial.
Melissa shared her “gratitude” for the support fans have been showing her during this difficult time.
Sharing a photo of herself sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee on her Modern Prairie brand’s account, Melissa reflected on what the last couple of weeks have been like for her and her family.
“I’m sending you all my love and gratitude during this extraordinarily difficult time. Not only for Tim, me and our family, but in the collective heaviness so many of us seem to be carrying right now. Add an unexpected storm to the mix, and it can all feel like a bit too much,” she wrote.
Melissa added, “Thank you, truly, for the love, patience, and support you continue to show Tim and me. Thank you for helping me to feel safer, more grounded, and deeply held by this extraordinary community of women here at Modern Prairie.”
“I’ll be easing back into things thoughtfully and with care — moving forward one step at a time. More to come, and so much gratitude always,” she concluded.
Timothy was granted a pretrial release.
After he surrendered to police on January 13, maintaining his innocence, Timothy was granted release at his pretrial detention hearing a week later, as USA Today reported.
He is currently facing charges involving two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse after prosecutors claimed he abused a 7-year-old and 8-year-old boy on the set of his show The Cleaning Lady.
Melissa wrote a letter to the judge ahead of his hearing.
Melissa was among the loved ones who wrote letters to the judge vouching for Timothy and his character before his release hearing, and it sounds like she’s choosing to stick by her husband’s side. In the letter, she described him as having the “strongest moral compass of any human I have ever known”
“Please, please take care of my sweet husband. As he is my protector, I am his, but I cannot protect him now and I think that, more than anything else, is what is truly breaking my heart,” Melissa wrote, via ABC News. “I am relying on you to protect him for me.”
“Tim Busfield denies the allegations in the criminal complaint and maintains they are completely false,” said a statement issued by his lawyer. “As a voluntary step, he submitted to an independent polygraph examination regarding those allegations and passed.”
