Melissa Gilbert is confident her husband Timothy Busfield will be exonerated on child sex abuse charges.
In her first television interview about the allegations, the Little House on the Prairie actress insisted that she's confident the actor will be cleared of four counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor.
"I am 100% confident he will be exonerated," she told George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired on Good Morning America on Monday. "But I will tell you that there is a practical side to this, and we do have to be prepared for all scenarios."
After Stephanopoulos asked what "justice" would look like, she replied, "Exoneration. An apology. Freedom from this cloud."
In January, The West Wing actor was accused inappropriately touching two boys while he was directing them on the set of the TV show The Cleaning Lady in New Mexico in 2022. He was indicted on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a child in February.
In her emotional interview, Gilbert acknowledged that even if he is acquitted at trial, the damage has already been done.
"This has been the most traumatizing experience of our lives. Our life as we knew it is done," she stated. "We are grieving what we had, all of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects. For Tim, it's done. He's cancelled. Even if he's exonerated, he will always be that guy. The last person in the world who would hurt a child."
The 61-year-old, who married Busfield in 2013, continued to maintain her husband's innocence.
"I trust him with my children's lives, I trust him with my grandchildren's lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honourable, caring, generous human being," she declared.
Gilbert was also asked about previous accusations of sexual assault levelled at Busfield by two women in 1994 and 2012. Charges were not brought in either case.
The actress insisted that she didn't enter her relationship "blind" as the allegations had been in "out in the ether" for a long time.
"I heard his side of the story, which no one 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," she explained.
Busfield, who has denied the allegations, is tentatively scheduled to go on trial in May 2027 in New Mexico.
