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\nMelissa Gilbert shared support for her husband, Timothy Busfield, as he faces child sex abuse allegations by speaking about his role as a stepfather in a character letter to the judge involved in the actor’s caseThe actress is a mom to son Michael Boxleitner, whom she shares with ex-husband Bruce Boxleitner, and son Dakota Brinkman, whom she shares with her first husband, Bo Brinkman\u201cOne of the great joys of my life has been watching Tim interact with my youngest son, Michael,\u201d Gilbert wrote<\/p>\n
Melissa Gilbert<\/a> is sharing support for her husband, Timothy Busfield<\/a>, as he faces child sex abuse allegations by speaking about his role as a stepfather.\n<\/p>\n In a court filing obtained by PEOPLE on Saturday, Jan. 17, the actress, 61, shared a character letter about Busfield, 68, after he was\u00a0charged<\/a>\u00a0with two counts\u00a0of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse.\n<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the great joys of my life has been watching Tim interact with my youngest son, Michael,\u201d Gilbert wrote, referring to her youngest son, Michael Boxleitner<\/a>, 30, whom she shares with ex-husband Bruce Boxleitner.\n<\/p>\n Detailing that Michael had been a \u201cfull blown, angst-ridden teenager trying to figure out his place in the world\u201d when she and Busfield got together in 2012, Gilbert continued, “Tim nurtured and guided Michael. He admonished, praised, loved, consoled, cajoled, fretted, cared for, and fed my son both physically and spiritually.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Michael Boxleitner and Melissa Gilbert n April 3, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n Eric Charbonneau\/WireImage<\/p>\n Gilbert \u2014 who is also mom to son Dakota Brinkman, whom she shares with her first husband, Bo Brinkman \u2014 then said in her letter to the judge on the case that she would \u201cnever be able to express the depth of gratitude\u201d she has for her husband, calling him the \u201cbeating heart of our wild and wonderful extended family.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Further describing Busfield as her \u201crock\u201d and \u201cpartner in business and life,” Gilbert stated that Busfield’s “joy, humor and quick wit bring sparkle to my life.”\n<\/p>\n She added that she has known him \u201cbetter and more intimately than anything in his life ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n Boxleitner similarly wrote his own character letter on Busfield’s behalf, which was also included in the court filing. In it, he said Busfield has \u201cshown up for me as a father\u201d<\/a> more than his own \u201cbiological” dad.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe is kind, thoughtful, and carries himself with a stalwart integrity all of us could only ever hope to match,\u201d Boxleitner added of his step-father, also calling him his \u201chero.\u201d<\/p>\n Busfield was charged in New Mexico on Tuesday, Jan. 13, after he surrendered to Albuquerque police.\n<\/p>\n The charges he faces are tied to incidents that allegedly occurred while Busfield was a director on\u00a0The Cleaning Lady.\u00a0(In that case, the alleged victims are 11-year-old twin boys, and a pretrial detention motion filed on Wednesday, Jan. 14, and obtained by PEOPLE\u00a0included an unrelated allegation of sexual abuse<\/a>.)\n<\/p>\n Busfield has\u00a0denied all child sex abuse crimes<\/a>\u00a0and said in a video obtained by\u00a0TMZ<\/a>\u00a0that he plans to \u201cconfront these lies\u201d and \u201cfight.”\n<\/p>\n Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield on October 27, 2025 in New York City.<\/p>\n Bruce Glikas\/Getty\u00a0<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\n<\/p>\n His civil attorney, Larry Stein, who has also denied all allegations that the actor engaged in unlawful sexual conduct, told PEOPLE in a statement on Jan. 13 that Timothy is \u201cabsolutely shocked<\/a>\u201d at the “false” allegation against him.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s devastated and will defend himself, because these are absolutely false allegations,\u201d Stein added.\n<\/p>\n Busfield, who is being held without bond and remains in custody, next has a\u00a0pretrial detention hearing<\/a>\u00a0scheduled for Jan. 20.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n