Melissa Gilbert shared in an emotional Instagram post Monday that it’s been an “extraordinarily difficult time” grappling with husband Timothy Busfield’s child sex abuse charges, adding that there’s a “collective heaviness so many of us seem to be carrying right now” with the daily news cycle and the weekend’s winter storm.
“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,” she wrote on the Modern Prairie Instagram account she operates. “Add an unexpected storm to the mix, and it can all feel like a bit too much.”
She added later in the caption, which was shared alongside an image of her drinking tea and look off-camera into the distance, “Thank you, truly, for the love, patience, and support you continue to show Tim and me.”
See the post in full below:
Busfield, a noted actor known for “The West Wing” and elsewhere, was charged in New Mexico earlier this month for allegedly inappropriate sexual relations with two child actors from “The Cleaning Lady,” the Fox drama he executive produced and directed from 2022–2025.
Busfield has maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing.
“I’m going to confront these lies,” he said a video statement. “They are horrible. They are all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys.”
Busfield added: “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.”
He appeared in court for a Jan. 20 pretrial hearing with Gilbert tearfully by his side, where a judge ruled he would not continue to be detained ahead of his child sex crime trial.
If he is found guilty, Busfield could serve up to three years in prison.
