Timothy Busfield Child Sex Crimes Case Slammed by Actress Wife

They're all lies, and I did not do. anything to those little boys. Uh and I'm I'm going to fight it. >> As actor and director Timothy Busfield. is accused of child sex crimes out New. Mexico, in a stunning move, his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert, has sat down. for an interview. She talked about the. allegation. She was very clear in the. way that she feels, and I will tell you. right now, you don't [music] see this. every day, a spouse talking in the. middle of a criminal case. [music] Why.

did she do it? Is there a legal risk? What is the value of this? What does. this say about the charges that Busfield. faces? Let's get into [music] it. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law &. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Also, I got to say, thank you so much. for following this case with us, and the. reason we're able to bring you this. story is because of the incredible. support that we get from our partner. Morgan & Morgan. Who's Morgan & Morgan? America's largest injury law firm. For. over 35 years, they have been fighting. for the people. They've recovered more.

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code on screen. Let me just say this off the top. You do. not see this, okay? You do not see a. criminal defendant, let alone their. spouse, speaking out like this during a. criminal case before it's been resolved. You don't see it. It's very rare. We're. going to talk about why in a minute. There is a risk associated with doing. it. But that is exactly what just. happened. Actress Melissa Gilbert, Little House on the Prairie, went on. ABC's Good Morning America alongside.

Busfield's lawyer, Larry Stein, and. talked about her husband. Defended her. husband, West Wing actor Timothy. Busfield, who, as we know, has been. indicted on four counts of criminal. sexual contact of a child, a minor, out. New Mexico for alleged inappropriate. contact involving two boys during the. production of the Fox Warner Brothers. show, The Cleaning Lady, which he served. as a director. Now, Busfield was ordered. released by a New Mexico judge. He's. awaiting trial. But to give you an idea. about what we're talking about, criminal. sexual contact of a minor under New.

Mexico law is the unlawful and. intentional touching of or applying. force to the intimate parts of a minor, or the unlawful and intentional causing. of a minor to touch one's intimate. parts. For the purposes of this section, intimate parts means, and it goes into a. description about what the private areas. could be. So, Gilbert does this. interview, and she says a lot. She says, quote, "This has been the most. traumatizing experience of our lives. Our life as we knew it is done. We are. grieving what we had, all of our plans,

all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all. of our projects. it's done. He's. canceled. Even if he's exonerated, he. will always be that guy, the last person. in the world who would hurt a child.". Now, I want you to keep that part in. mind cuz we'll talk about it later. It. might go into the motivations for why. she did this interview. But she added. how she is, quote, "100% confident he. will be exonerated." Now, this part was. really interesting because the. conversation turned to Busfield's prior. accusations. This has come up a lot in. reporting. For example, there was this.

accusation back in the '90s. who accused him of sexual assault on the. set of Little Big League. 2012, 28-year-old woman accused him of groping. her at a movie theater. Now, to be. clear, there were no criminal charges. that were ever filed in connection with. either of these alleged episodes. But. there was also the reporting recently of. how the father of a 16-year-old girl. came forward accusing Busfield of. sexually assaulting his daughter several. years ago, and then at the time, Busfield begged them not to go to the. police if he promised to go to therapy.

So, Gilbert says during this interview, quote, "I need to make something. abundantly clear. These allegations have. been out in the ether for a very long. time. 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.". We'll talk about when that might be. "I. know this man in my bones. No one knows. him better than I do. I know literally. everything about him. He is nothing if. not completely honest with me. Our. marriage has, you know, we've had a lot. of ups and downs. We've been through. struggles. We've had our own issues to. deal with, and we've worked through. everything. I trust him with my. children's lives, with my. grandchildren's lives, my nieces and. nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being." Now, before I. analyze and dive into Gilbert speaking.

out, and I'm going to bring on David. Ring in a little bit, a claimed attorney. in this space to talk about it, I want. to put this a little bit more into. context, her interview. So, one of the. things that happened was I actually. interviewed Busfield's civil attorney, Larry Stein, who was with Melissa. Gilbert in that GMA interview. I. interviewed him on my NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, last night. Take a. look. You don't usually see criminal. defendants or their spouses speaking out. during the middle in the middle of a. criminal case. What was the strategy.

here? Why did she want to do this? And. and I've been doing this for four. decades uh for celebrities, and I've. never done an interview. That was the. first interview I've ever agreed to. And. the reason why is because the parents, uh the detective, the assistant district. attorney, and the district attorney have. been. absolutely complicit in a false story. being prepared here. And the media, unfortunately, uh has gone along with it. They focused,

as you said, on 30-year-old allegations. regarding. uh women, which have absolutely nothing. to do with an allegation regarding. pubescent boys. Uh and so, we felt that in order to get. our side of the story out, it was. necessary for us to do these sorts of. interviews. >> So, I want to put this into context. Originally, these twin boys, these. accusers that are part of the current. charges, they were apparently. interviewed by authorities in November.

of 2024 when police were called to the. University of New Mexico hospital. One. of the boys claimed that Busfield. touched his private areas. According to. therapist notes, this is someone who has. been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety, allegedly as a result of what happened. to him. In fact, according to a 13-page. arrest warrant, the boy had, quote, "nightmares about the director touching. him and waking up scared." The. allegation is that the boys were groomed. by Busfield, who they apparently called. Uncle Tim, that he would allegedly.

tickle them. So, you're talking 7 or 8. years old, but that they denied at first. anything sexual happened. And there was. even an audio tape that was released. where the child accuser is seemingly. denying Busfield touching him in this. interview with authorities. This was. audio that was obtained by the New York. Post and TMZ. It was submitted by. Busfield's attorneys in a court filing. And to be clear, and I'll talk about. this as well with David, there's two. ways to look at this, right? On one. hand, you could say, "Oh my gosh, this. really strikes at the credibility of the.

accusers. It strikes at the credibility. of the parents," who we'll talk about. Now, the other hand is, the other way of. looking at it, and I actually. interviewed Stein about this, too, and. I'm going to talk about it with David. Ring. You and I both know that in a lot. of alleged sexual assault cases or. sexual abuse cases, whether it's. children, whether it's adults, man, woman, these alleged victims can first. deny the abuse, not mention it, not. report it, and then come forward years. later, days later, months later. It all. depends. There's a lot of complicating. factors. But even so, this has to be.

considered along with what I'm about to. get into. Because since at the time. there was no further evidence of sexual. contact, the investigation didn't go. anywhere until October of 2025. The. boy's mother then filed report against. Busfield with CPS, Child Protective. Services. This is when one of the boys. claims that Busfield did touch his. privates over his clothes, and was, quote, "afraid to tell anyone because. Tim was the director, and he feared Tim. would get mad at him." So, after. conducting these interviews and.

reportedly talking to some members of. the Cleaning Lady production crew, an. investigator secured an arrest warrant. In the accompanying warrant in this. case, Busfield even allegedly admitted. to police that it was, quote, "highly. likely that he had some sort of physical. contact with the children." Though, he. characterized the interactions as. playful, like picking them up and. tickling them. And the warrant also. includes a broader observation from law. enforcement stating, according to. Deadline, "Pedophiles often infiltrate. families under a trusted role, like. Timothy, who as a producer exploited the.

hectic film sets." Now, according to. Deadline, both parents of the boys and. other alleged victims of Busfield over. the years are on the prosecution's. witness list. Now, Stein, again, Busfield's lawyer, who was also on GMA, said, "In this case, the boys are. victims of the parents, not victims of. Tim. The parents are criminals. One. served more than 3 years in jail and. lost their license to practice law for. defrauding 1,500 people of $6 million, and the other for writing bad checks and. stealing cars." Now, where does that. come from? Well, in one of Busfield's.

pretrial filings from his attorneys, there was the argument that he should be. released because he claimed the parents. are fraudsters, that they're stage. parents, Angela LaSalle and Ronald. Rodas, citing even how LaSalle allegedly. was heard saying she wanted to get, quote, "revenge" on Busfield, potentially because the boys were. replaced by another child actor in an. upcoming season of the show. Quote, "The. state offers no reliable proof, only. allegations advanced by witnesses with. documented histories of fraud and. financial exploitation contradicted by a.

comprehensive studio investigation and. refuted by witnesses and objective risk. assessments. That's something Stein told. me on my show last night that there was. an investigation where they looked into. they actually spoke to different members. of that production, too. They also said. in this filing the prosecution's case. rests almost entirely on the accounts of. the two stage parents and they are not. neutral observers. Their allegations. emerged only after the loss of the twins. role and only after consultation with. civil counsel creating an obvious. financial and retaliatory motive. That.

motive must be evaluated against the. couple's well-documented history of. fraud and dishonesty. So, Busfield. accuses Rotus essentially that there's a. change of story when money's on the. table that he's doing this for financial. gain saying quote Rotus is a former. attorney who was convicted of federal. conspiracy and wire fraud and was later. disbarred following that prosecution for. a multi-million dollar scheme in which. he used his law license to deceive. vulnerable victims for profit. Citing. how Rotus previously pleaded guilty to. conspiracy to commit wire fraud when he. reportedly defrauded more than 1,500.

homeowners of approximately $6 million. And this again according to the filing. that was obtained by outlets like. people. Busfield also cited a member of. the cleaning lady crew who apparently. called Rotus pushy and manipulative and. that he would frequently encourage and. tell the children to hug people on set. including Mr. Busfield. What about the. boy's mother? So, Busfield says she. quote has had multiple civil judgments. against her for fraudulent and dishonest. behavior claiming she was sued for. various claims including fraud, conversion, and fraudulent transfer.

including illegally repossessing a car. and writing bad checks to casinos. And quote the fact of the matter is that. the parents driving the allegations. against Mr. Busfield have an. extraordinarily checkered past that. casts enormous doubt on the truthfulness. of their statements. Timeline does not. indicate an investigation naturally. unfolding but instead an express effort. to seek revenge against Mr. Busfield. after losing the lucrative opportunity. that came with their children's acting. on The Cleaning Lady. Now, I have to. mention something, too, that Warner. Brothers who was a partner in this. production also had an independent.

outside investigation that was conducted. and found quote no corroborating. evidence of inappropriate conduct by. Busfield on this production. And in. Busfield's opposition filing he claims. that the investigation quote found not. only that allegations against Mr. Busfield were unfounded but also that. Angela Sall after hearing that her. children might not be returning for a. fourth season stated to the show's lead. actor that she would quote get her. revenge against Tim Busfield. And when I. spoke to Stein last night I believe he.

said there were actually two. investigations. But there's more. In the. filing his legal team also argued that. Busfield passed a polygraph examination. when asked about the allegations and I. believe polygraphs are admissible under. New Mexico law. They also claim that the. findings of a psychosexual evaluation. concluded that Busfield quote does not. appear to have a sexual attraction to. prepubescent or adolescent males or. females. Now, with all that in mind. Gilbert is now speaking out. And this is. a 180 because when her husband initially.

turned himself into authorities her. spokesperson had released the following. statement at the time on her behalf. Melissa Gilbert is not making public. statements at this time. Any purported. statements circulating online including. AI generated deep fakes of her breaking. her silence should not be treated as. coming from her. She is honoring the. request of Tim's lawyers not to speak. publicly while the legal process. unfolds. During this period her focus is. on supporting and caring for their very. large family as they navigate this. moment. Melissa stands with and supports.

her husband and will address the public. at an appropriate time. We ask that. their privacy be respected. Well, now. appears to be that appropriate time. because she's speaking out, right? So, let's talk about it. So, I want to bring. on civil trial attorney David Ring. Now, David represents survivors of sexual. abuse. He knows about these kinds of. cases. David, thank you for taking the. time to come on to talk about this. I'm. I mentioned this at the top. I'll. mention it to you. You don't always see. either a criminal defendant or their. spouse doing an interview and making.

statements in the middle of not only a. criminal investigation a criminal case. an active criminal case where there's an. indictment. A, explain to our audience. why that's the case, what the risks are, and B, why do you think she did it? Very interesting and you're absolutely. right, Jesse. It's it doesn't happen. very often but this is a high profile. case and the strategy clearly for. Timothy Busfield and and his wife. Melissa Gilbert is to go national is to.

go public and to start, you know, spreading their theme that this is what. they're claiming is that this is made. up. These are false allegations. Timothy. Busfield would never do anything like. this and so they're really going to go. on the PR blitz and try to convince the. public that that this didn't happen well. before the criminal trial even happens. What is the risk of it that anything she. say could be used against her husband or. she's called as a witness anything she. says can be used to impeach her. credibility?

Absolutely. Anytime you go public and. give an interview. those statements can be used in court. So, Timothy Busfield when right around. the time he was being arrested made a. public statement about this. That can be. used against him in court if he says. something that turns out to be helpful. to the prosecution. Same with Melissa. Gilbert. You know, if she says something. that the prosecution thinks helps their. case they can play that video and use it. to impeach her during the trial. Was. there anything that she said in your. view in your mind that was legally.

problematic? I don't think so. Look, she. had her lawyer sitting right beside her. Obviously they had prepared for this. interview. She said all the things that. my husband wouldn't do this. I know him. incredibly well. I will say this though. The one thing that that did catch me. that that could be problematic is that. she says that Timothy Busfield before. they they got married that he told her. everything about these past allegations. in his life. Did he really? Because some of these.

victims have come forward only recently. They were not news back in 2012 or 13. when they got married. Did he tell her. about those victims as well? Well, and to be clear it's not like when. they got married. he told her about the allegations. regarding these twin boys because that. hadn't allegedly happened yet. And I guess the question becomes it. seems even if you look at the. prosecution's witness list they're. planning a very expansive case where.

it's not just about the allegations of. the children but it's about past. allegations of Timothy Busfield, right? And I don't know if the court is going. to ultimately allow that. Let's start. there. Do you think that's going to be a. big part of the case? Do you think a. judge is actually going to allow that? Well, I'll tell you what that is going. to be a close call. That is that is up. to the judge. That is in the court's. discretion whether they allow those. prior complaints into this trial and. that is a 50/50 proposition at this.

point because and here's my opinion on. that. If some of those come into this. trial Timothy Busfield could be in very. deep trouble. And if none of those prior. incidents come into this trial okay, he's going to have an easier time in the. criminal case. So, it's a it's going to. be a huge ruling. It's going to be. litigated heavily and and it's a close. call. But she's limited in her being. called as a witness, right? Like if the. prosecution wanted to call her there. isn't there spousal privilege in terms. of what he told her or she told him? I. mean, do you think that she would be.

called as a witness in any capacity by. the prosecution? You're right. She she has you know, the. privilege of being a spouse so anything. he may have admitted to her or told her. she can assert the privilege. I don't. think Melissa Gilbert's going to be a. key witness in this trial. But she could. be called as a witness for the defense. possibly. Oh, she absolutely could be called for. the defense and and look one of the. strategic reasons for them doing that is. she's Melissa Gilbert, right? Little. House on the Prairie. You know, they're hoping that the jurors.

like her, know who she is, have some. empathy for her, and and she's there to. say my husband never did this. I know. him better than anybody and and they're. hoping that that her her celebrity. status carries the day and and gets him. acquitted. It was interesting there was. a part of the interview where she said. you basically our lives are never going. to be the same. You know, when someone's. accused of this it's very hard in the. court of public opinion from a PR. perspective to ever wash yourself of. that even if the charges are dropped.

even if he's acquitted. Do you think. that was part of her speaking out as. well? And do you think people have. already made up their minds. regarding Timothy Busfield from a PR. point of view a career point of view? Do. you think it was important for her to do. this? I I think um. Look, I think she absolutely was giving. this interview to generate sympathy to. generate some buzz out there that they. look at these allegedly false. allegations have destroyed our lives and. that Timothy Busfield will never work.

again that he's been canceled. Absolutely. I think that's one of the. big reasons why she did that interview. Do people make up their minds as soon as. they hear these allegations? Absolutely. they do. You know, I mean, let's let's. face it. The second it comes out Timothy. Busfield molested boys on the movie set, you know, a lot of people in in our. society and and righteously so sometimes. they say, okay, I'm done with him. But. look, I'm a lawyer and and you're you're. a lawyer. Even though I represent victims and I'm.

a true believer on that I I am also. believe in due process. I think due. process is so important in in in our. court system and sometimes people don't. get it. And this raises a larger. question. So, first of all, yes, he's. he's innocent till proven guilty. These. are allegations. I even had on Larry. Stein as I mentioned on my NewsNation. show Jesse Watters Primetime. He. basically said it's only the account of. of these children, not both in terms of. the allegations of molestation." But. here's the part that I was thinking. I. circle back. You don't usually see.

criminal defendants do this. You don't. usually see their spouses do this. because the evidence could be arguably. strong, and they don't want to do. anything to taint their defense. I was. wondering, did she come out and do this. because they believe that the. prosecution's case is weak? You know, when I interviewed Stein, he made the. point that since the judge released. Busfield given these allegations, it may. show how weak the case is. I mentioned. it before, the independent investigation. allegedly found no corroborating. evidence of sexual abuse. That, you.

know, Larry Stein came on my show and he. said basically that look how this child. accuser first said nothing happened, and. then made the allegation that the. parents pressured the children to make. up this account. And so, when you see. Melissa Gilbert doing an interview like. this, does that signify to you that they. believe the prosecution's case is weak? And is the prosecution's case weak? I think Melissa Gilbert and and Timothy. Busfield and that legal team absolutely.

believe that the prosecution case is is. weak. And that's one of the reasons why. they're doing these interviews. Remember. this, that Busfield took a lie detector. test right around the time he was. arrested. And and in New Mexico, those. lie detector tests can be admissible. And so, now we don't know what questions. he was asked and who administered it, and whether it was a, you know, a a. legitimate lie detector test. You have. to assume it was. That's powerful. evidence, and it's things like that that. make you, you know, look a little more.

closely at the allegations in this case. And truly, I've read a lot on the case. This case, just standing alone, if you. just look at those allegations, it's. paper thin. It is a very, very thin, weak case for the prosecution. It just. is. There's not a lot there. Looking at. this case, we would have to accept, if. we go forward with Busfield's defense, or at least what was articulated by Mr. Stein, that these parents are pushing a. falsehood, that they are deliberately.

lying about what happened, and. pressuring their children to go forward. I mean, that would be a crime for them. to do that. And is that going to be a a part of the. defense? Do you put the parents on the. stand? Do you cross-examine them about I. laid out all their alleged past, and. there are the accusations that were put. forward by Timothy Busfield's team. Do. they become a central figure in this? I. mean, is that going to be a tough road. to to argue that these parents are lying. because they were upset that the.

children were not renewed on the show. I. mean, essentially, you're accusing the. parents of. I I would I mean, I I I don't know the. best way to say it, but lying and and. and. and potentially committing a crime. Busfield's lawyers have come right out. and called them straight-up liars. Uh that's going to be a central part of. this case. They are going to go on the. attack. They are going to go after these. parents, and let's face it, there's some. things there that plays into Busfield's. favor. I mean, this is things that are. in the public realm. As the father in.

California, he was convicted of wire. fraud. And back in the, you know, 2008-9. timeframe when we had this home mortgage. crisis and the home crisis, he he was. running a law firm that duped many, many, many homeowners out of thousands. of dollars, and he went to prison for. it. And so, and he lost his law license. because of it. So, he's got a checkered. history as well. Look, I hate to say it, I've seen parents coach their young. children to say things that are not. true. I've seen it, not in my cases, but.

I have seen it happen. You look at. divorce cases where the spouses are. going after each other, and one of them. coaches the kid to say something against. the other spouse. It happens. And so, Busfield has some legitimate arguments. here that these two boys were. potentially coached into saying that. he's actually abused them. The point. that I made to Stein on my show last. night is we've seen this time and time. again. The other way of looking at it is. the counterargument is alleged victims.

can come forward or not come forward. They sometimes say, "Hey, nothing. happened." And then they come back years. later, days later, months later, and. say, "No, this really did happen.". There's a number of different reasons. why they may deny being abused, and then. ultimately say it happened. I mean, it's. very complicated. So, I wonder how much. that's going to play into this case, too. Those are the two competing themes, and. there's no doubt about it that children, especially young children, is called. delayed disclosure. And most kids who.

are sexually abused, they don't tell. right away for a lot of different. reasons. They don't think anyone will. believe them. They're scared. They're. not quite sure what happened. You know, they don't know that this is a sexually. inappropriate act cuz they're too young. to realize it, but they know something's. wrong. They think their parents are. going to get mad at them. So, delayed. disclosure absolutely happens all the. time with young victims of sexual abuse. And it's not unusual at all. The other. part of that that's not unusual is that.

victims often, they don't come right out. and say, "Here's everything that. happened, you know, sexually that they. did to me, and here's the timeline for. it." They're kids. They don't keep. timelines. They don't have this perfect. sense of of timing in their head. And. so, things come out in bits and pieces. over time. That is totally normal, and. that's exactly what the prosecution's. going to argue in this case. So, according to Deadline, we have a. pretrial conference that is set for. April 22nd. There is a May 2027 trial.

date that was put on the calendar. earlier this year. First of all, do you. think those dates are going to stay, and. what can we expect? I think those dates will stay. I mean, that's a year away from now for a trial. date. So, I I I see no reason why that. wouldn't go forward. Um and so, I I yes, I think I I wouldn't be surprised if you. see some more public statements from. Busfield's legal team over over time. You know, they're going to keep trying. to put things out there as they get. closer to the trial to try to, you know,

sway public opinion. Not sway a jury, though, right? Not sway. a jury. Because they're not supposed to. do that, right? They're not supposed to. affect jury selection based on comments, but how does it work in practice? Exactly. So, unless unless the. prosecution goes into the court and. complains and says, "Hey, look, they're. doing these interviews and it's tainting. the jury pool." You know, a judge can. then issue a basically a gag order and. say, "I don't want any of the lawyers. talking about this case anymore, and I. don't want any of the the parties to.

give interviews anymore." That. definitely happens. When Melissa Gilbert. says that her husband is eventually. going to speak out, seemingly about the. past allegations, but now is not the. time. What does that mean? You think it. means he's going to take the stand? I'd be I'd be again, in this case, I'd. be. I'd be surprised if he took the stand. because his biggest vulnerability, if he. were to get on the witness stand, is. those prior complaints. And so, if he. were testifying and he somehow opened. the door to those things, that it that.

would be devastating. So, I I'd be. surprised if he ever takes the stand on. this case. And and you know, look, that. was another thing from Melissa Gilbert's. interview that is kind of an. eyebrow-raiser to me. Anytime someone. says, "You know, he's got a very good. explanation for these prior complaints, but we're not going to talk about them. right now. It's not the right time.". Well, why isn't it the right time? That's what we want to know about. So, I. think she's just dodging that issue. Or. if he were to be acquitted or the. charges were dropped, then he would. probably go, I don't know, on GMA or do.

an interview and explain all that. So, I. think he's waiting for the criminal case. to be resolved. We will see where this. goes. This is just a big development. I. think it was very interesting she did. this interview. How could I not talk. about it? David Ring, thank you so much. for coming on, taking the time, as. always, appreciate it. Thank you, Jesse. And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us, and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can also check us. out on NBC's Peacock, as well. If you. want to follow me, X, Instagram, my. NewsNation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11:00 p.m.

Eastern. I'll see you next time, everybody.