Melissa Gilbert deactivated several social media profiles while her husband, Timothy Busfieldrisks being arrested for child sexual abuse.
Anyone visiting Gilbert Official Instagram or she Topics account on Saturday, January 10, received messages indicating that neither page was available. The official Instagram account for Gilbert’s lifestyle brand, Modern Prairie, is still active and even posted a winter themed video Saturday, wishing its subscribers a “happy Saturday”.
Friday January 9 Us every week obtained an arrest warrant from New Mexico authorities after a child actor accused Busfield of touching him inappropriately while they worked together on TV series The cleaning lady. (The Accuser and his twin brother were child actors on the show while Busfield directed several episodes.)
We has contacted Busfield and Gilbert for comment.
Timothy Busfield allegedly told authorities that there were no specific rules on the set of The Cleaning Lady about how adults should physically interact with child actors, according to an arrest warrant for the actor obtained by Us Weekly. Actor-turned-director, 68, faces multiple counts of child sexual abuse after being accused […]
The accuser alleged that Busfield inappropriately touched his “private areas” for the first time when he was 7 years old, although there were three or four incidents in total. The child actor recalled that Busfield touched him five or six more times in a separate incident when he was 8 years old. (The child’s mother reported to Child Protective Services that the alleged offenses occurred between late 2022 and the second half of 2024.)
“[The boy] was afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the director, and he was afraid that Tim would get angry with him,” said an affidavit from the Albuquerque Police Department read.
The affidavit includes references to the child actor being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety as a result of the alleged trauma.
According to the documents, Busfield spoke to investigations into the allegations in November 2025. During that conversation, the principal was allegedly asked if he had had “physical contact” with the children, such as lifting them or tickling them.
“Timothy said it was very likely he would have done it,” the police affidavit read, although Busfield insisted there “would never have been a strange moment about it” and that any contact would have happened “in front of the parents.”
However, the affidavit also mentioned that Busfield told authorities that he did not specifically remember picking up the boys at any time during production.
Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield.
VALÉRY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images“I don’t remember those boys,” he said, according to the affidavit. “No, I don’t. In fact, I don’t remember, if it ever happened. I don’t remember ever openly tickling boys, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for me.”
In Busfield’s tenure, there is a reference to the actor and director telling the officer Marvin Brown that he and Gilbert, 61, bought “the two boys’ Christmas presents and were together [at] several social functions. Agent Brown reported that Busfield “invited[d] the family to postpone meetings, his wife buying Christmas gifts to promote closeness.
The officer said such behavior could be an example of “classic grooming to erode boundaries, isolate the victim and silence suspicion by making abuse part of normalcy.”
Just weeks before the arrest warrant was issued against her husband, Gilbert addressed the topic of sexual abuse via his Instagram on November 15, 2025. (Gilbert was responding to the “I was 15” social media movement, which started after Megyn Kelly argued that the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “was the barely legal type”, which seems to insinuate that he may not really have been a pedophile.)
“So I’ve been thinking about posting this, but I feel compelled to share. After seeing many posts from women with the hashtags #iwasfifteen #imfifteen #iwasachild, I decided to Google what age and see what happens,” she wrote. “And here’s some of what I found out…and now, at this age, in this time, I’m really sick to my stomach.”
Gilbert shared photos of herself at 15 on the set of Little House on the Prairie alongside his partner Dean Butlera then 23-year-old actor who played his character’s love interest.
“The girl vacationing in Hawaii with her family is the same girl who was expected to fall in love with and kiss a man in the movie who was several years older than her,” Gilbert wrote. “Seeing today’s prism, it’s shocking. I have no other words than to say: ‘I was a child.’ “I was fifteen.” And I was the good news.
She continued, “Thank God my mom, Michael and so many others were there to make sure I was safe. Can you imagine if I didn’t have them all? I’m so lucky (in a way). A lot of other young women aren’t.”
More recently, Gilbert shared an anonymous cryptic quote on injustice via Instagram on January 5.
Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield have been married since 2013 after each having long careers in Hollywood. “Our business in Los Angeles is very difficult because it’s all over this city. [and] everyone is involved in it in one way or another,” said Gilbert, best known for playing Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. […]
“You seem to have confused discomfort with injustice,” the post read, along with hashtags for “Fragility,” “You know who you are,” and “That’s right, I’m looking at you.”
In the comments section, Gilbert explained that his post was about “playing the victim and blaming others.”
“It’s about not taking responsibility for your own situation,” she said. “It’s about being a big crybaby. I saw this quote and it struck me. …I have a particularly hard time with people who play the victim. Own your shit. Step up. This is all pretty general. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with privilege, attitude and weakness.”
Gilbert never clarified exactly what she was referring to in the Instagram post, although news broke four days later regarding her husband’s arrest warrant.
Busfield and Gilbert have been married since 2013. (Gilbert was previously married to actors Bo Brinkman And Bruce Boxleitnerwhile Busfield has also been married twice previously, with Radha Delamarter And Jennifer Merwin.)
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is a victim of child abuse, call or text Helpline for children at 1-800-422-4453.
