NEED TO KNOW
- Melissa Gilbert met director Timothy Busfield at a bar in 2012
- The Little House on the Prairie star and the Thirtysomething actor got married in April 2013
- On Jan. 9, the Albuquerque Police Department issued an arrest warrant against Busfield, who faces two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse
Melissa Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield is facing allegations of child sex abuse.
The Little House on the Prairie star and the Thirtysomething actor got married in 2013, nearly one year after meeting at a bar. Both of them had been married twice before and welcomed children with their previous partners.
On Jan. 9, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) issued an arrest warrant against Busfield, alleging that he engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two child actors, whom he met on the set of FOX’s The Cleaning Lady, which he had joined as a director. According to the warrant, one of the 11-year-old twins alleged that the incidents began several years earlier, when he was 7 years old.
The warrant states that Officer Marvin Brown conducted a phone interview with Busfield on Nov. 3, 2025, during which Gilbert listened via speakerphone when her husband allegedly said the boys’ parents were upset their children had been replaced by a younger actor.
Warner Bros. Television released a statement to PEOPLE via a representative, saying that the “health and safety of our cast and crew” is always their “top priority,” and that they would “cooperate with law enforcement” through the investigation. Busfield faces two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. Reps for Busfield and Gilbert did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
So who is Melissa Gilbert’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Timothy Busfield.
He is an actor and director
After graduating from East Tennessee State University in 1979, per his LinkedIn, Busfield began his career in Hollywood in the ’80s and has been working across film and television since.
He is most known for appearing as Danny Concannon in NBC’s The West Wing and ABC’s Thirtysomething, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1991 for his role as Elliot Weston.
Busfield has also directed across television series, including an episode of NBC’s This Is Us and several of NBC’s The Night Shift.
Outside of their Hollywood careers, Gilbert and Busfield launched a podcast together in 2020.
He has three children
Busfield is a father of three: sons Wilson and Samuel, and daughter Daisy.
According to his Instagram, Wilson goes by Willy and is a cinematographer. In November 2021, Busfield shared a photo of Willy and his wife, Angella, on their wedding day. Samuel and Daisy keep their personal lives out of the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Gilbert is also the mother of two adult sons, Dakota, whom she welcomed with ex-husband Bo Brinkman, and Michael, whom she shares with ex-husband Bruce Boxleitner.
Busfield and Gilbert are grandparents to eight grandchildren through their blended family.
He married Gilbert in 2013, one year after first meeting
Gilbert and Busfield met at a bar in 2012 and got engaged during the holiday season that year.
On April 24, 2013, they got married in a small ceremony at the historic San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The pair then lived in Busfield’s hometown of Howell, Mich., for five years before moving to New York together.
Busfield is facing an arrest warrant for alleged child sex abuse
Busfield is currently facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. According to an arrest warrant issued by the APD and obtained by PEOPLE on Jan. 9, authorities allege that the director engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old twin boys.
One of the minors, whose identity was withheld, alleged that the incidents began when he was 7 years old. Authorities launched an investigation in early November 2024, after a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) reported suspected sexual abuse.
According to the warrant, the boys’ parents said their sons were child actors who met and grew close to Busfield on the set of The Cleaning Lady, where he served as a director. Their parents told the officer that they both discovered that there were allegations against Timothy of “sexual assault against both women and minors.”
After the father was told that “there had been multiple rumors that Timothy had been ‘handsy’ with women,” the siblings’ mother asked her sons if anyone had ever touched them in a manner that had made them feel uncomfortable. Per the warrant, the children allegedly responded by asking, “You mean like Uncle Tim?’ ”
The parents said an attorney advised them to take the boys to UNMH, where professionals indicated the children may have been “groomed,” per the warrant, which states that Busfield has faced prior sexual assault allegations dating back to 1994, though they did not result in charges.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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