Actor Timothy Busfield has been charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child, and his wife Melissa Gilbert has broken her silence in a preview interview with Good Morning America.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney's office said a grand jury in New Mexico returned the four-count indictment in February, according to a press release. The indictment followed allegations from two children Busfield had worked with, and an arrest warrant accused him of inappropriate touching on the set of the Fox series The Cleaning Lady.
Prosecutors brought the charges after Busfield turned himself in about a month earlier. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Larry Stein, said an indictment was not unexpected and criticized the prosecution, saying a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich and asserting the case is fundamentally unsound and cannot be proven at trial.
Busfield, who has appeared in television dramas and is perhaps best known for his role as Danny Concannon in The West Wing, faces a trial expected to begin next May. His defense team has said they will challenge the state's case in open court rather than behind closed doors.
Gilbert Defense And Personal Impact
Gilbert, who married Busfield in 2013, told Good Morning America the ordeal has been devastating. She described the past months as "the most traumatizing experience of our lives," and said their life as they knew it is over while they grieve what they had.
In the interview preview, Gilbert defended her husband and called him "the last person in the world who would hurt a child," adding that even exoneration would not erase the stigma she believes he now faces. She also said that if she believed the accusations, Busfield would face consequences beyond prison.
Gilbert's full interview is set to air on Good Morning America on Monday. Her remarks frame the case not only as a legal battle but as one with profound personal and professional consequences for the couple.
Stein has accused the district attorney of pursuing a case driven by factors other than facts or law. He said Busfield will fight the charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the state's evidence in open court, where he contends proof will matter.
