- - Melissa Gilbert's Mom Barbara, 89, Defends 'Magical' Son-in-Law Timothy Busfield in Letter to Judge

Desiree AnelloJanuary 18, 2026 at 5:03 AM

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ANDREAS BRANCH/Patrick McMullan via Getty; VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty

Barbara Cowan attends Nikki Haskell Birthday Celebration; Timothy Busfield (L) and US actress Melissa Gilbert (L) pose during a photocall for the series "Busfield" -

Melissa Gilbert’s mother, Barbara Cowan, defended her son-in-law, Timothy Busfield, in a letter to a judge

The West Wing actor faces child sex abuse charges

"I could not love & respect him more if I had carried him as my own … The world is a better place with Timothy Busfield in it,” Barbara wrote in her letter

Melissa Gilbert’s mother, Barbara Cowan, is vouching for her son-in-law, Timothy Busfield, as he faces child sex abuse allegations.

The West Wing alum, 68, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse in New Mexico on Tuesday, Jan. 13, after he surrendered to Albuquerque police.

The charges are in connection with incidents that allegedly occurred while Busfield was a director on The Cleaning Lady. 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 included an unrelated allegation of sexual abuse.

Since then, Busfield's mother-in-law has joined her daughter and many of the actor’s friends and family by writing letters of support to the judge involved in his case. In hers, Barbara, 89, described the “shining human” she knows Busfield to be.

Lars Niki/Getty

Timothy Busfield and actress Melissa Gilbert attend the opening night party for "Medea"

“I could not love & respect him more if I had carried him as my own,” Barbara wrote in the letter, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. “I am sorry for anyone who has not been graced [with] his love, generosity, kindness, playfulness, caring, teachings, availability, strength, and on & on.”

“I am a very protective mother, and grandmother & great grand mother,” she continued. “Tim has taken care of all my previous little ones. They can’t wait for their fun & special times with him. I don’t blame them. Tim is magical. I would trust all with him today.”

The Sorority Girl actress also went on to write about Busfield's service to his country and community, as well as his family and friends.

“From day one he was my real son,” Barbara wrote. “He is the man & the strength I look forward to as I enter my nineties. I need him in my life. There is no one that can ever take his place for me, or for anyone else in this family or our extended family. The world is a better place with Timothy Busfield in it.”

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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Melissa Gilbert and Timothy Busfield attend the "Nymphes D'Or - Golden Nymphs" Award Ceremony

Melissa, 61, was born in May 1964, and she was adopted by Barbara and Paul Gilbert. Brother Jonathan Gilbert was born two years later and also adopted by the pair.

Barbara and Paul divorced, and Barbara welcomed daughter Sara Gilbert with her second husband, Harold Abeles, in January 1975.

Sara was credited as Sara Abeles in her first TV role, but she took the Gilbert name shortly after.

All three siblings began acting at a young age, with Melissa rising to fame as Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prairie. Jonathan also appeared in the show as Willie Oleson.

At 13 years old, Sara landed the role of Darlene Conner on Roseanne. She and Melissa continued their Hollywood careers into adulthood, but Jonathan stopped acting at age 18.

Busfield has denied all child sex abuse crimes and said in a video obtained by TMZ that he plans to “confront these lies” and “fight."

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 “absolutely shocked” at the "false" allegation against him.

“He's devastated and will defend himself, because these are absolutely false allegations,” Stein added.

Busfield has a pretrial detention hearing scheduled for Jan. 20.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”