Melissa Gilbert’s husband, Timothy Busfield, facing warrant for child sex abuse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a grown man (the boss) ever think it’s ok to tickle someone else’s 10 year old children? Disgusting.

Can anyone answer this? Because Timothy admitted to doing just that.

The answer is it’s not ok.

It’s funny - all the Busfield defenders are now oddly quiet. Have they suddenly realized tickling kids on set is gross, weird and inappropriate?

Disagree.
Many adults Busfields age would consider tickling as a way to horse around and develop an easygoing rapport with a kid that makes them see you as fun and good natured rather than serious and scary. While it’s easy to see that a groomer would want to utilize that as a tool to lower inhibitions and gain trust, a director and producer could easily see the value in employing the same practices simply to create a relaxed culture and gain trust and rapport needed to get a relaxed and natural performance out of a child actor.
If a producer/director did that to my kid and it bothered me or the child, I would raise the objection immediately rather than wait until my child was not asked back for another season. The timing is suspicious.

You can’t be serious. You don’t know what you’d do in that situation. You’re blaming the victim or the parents for not coming forward immediately? Wow. It’s quite possible the family was afraid of offending the director. It’s also possible they didn’t know about the tickling. The tutor was on set supposedly watching the kids (but wasn’t). Regardless, a therapist diagnosed a child with PTSD and he had bed wetting episodes and no longer wanted to be on set. Plus there is a rule on set: no touching children. Busfield broke this rule. There are red flags everywhere.

I guess you also don’t believe the 16 year old’s claim since her father “didn’t come forward immediately” and of course that’s not what you’d do.

I sincerely you are never in this kind of a situation so that you can continue to judge others up on your high horse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a grown man (the boss) ever think it’s ok to tickle someone else’s 10 year old children? Disgusting.

Can anyone answer this? Because Timothy admitted to doing just that.

The answer is it’s not ok.

It’s funny - all the Busfield defenders are now oddly quiet. Have they suddenly realized tickling kids on set is gross, weird and inappropriate?

Disagree.
Many adults Busfields age would consider tickling as a way to horse around and develop an easygoing rapport with a kid that makes them see you as fun and good natured rather than serious and scary. While it’s easy to see that a groomer would want to utilize that as a tool to lower inhibitions and gain trust, a director and producer could easily see the value in employing the same practices simply to create a relaxed culture and gain trust and rapport needed to get a relaxed and natural performance out of a child actor.
If a producer/director did that to my kid and it bothered me or the child, I would raise the objection immediately rather than wait until my child was not asked back for another season. The timing is suspicious.

You can’t be serious. You don’t know what you’d do in that situation. You’re blaming the victim or the parents for not coming forward immediately? Wow. It’s quite possible the family was afraid of offending the director. It’s also possible they didn’t know about the tickling. The tutor was on set supposedly watching the kids (but wasn’t). Regardless, a therapist diagnosed a child with PTSD and he had bed wetting episodes and no longer wanted to be on set. Plus there is a rule on set: no touching children. Busfield broke this rule. There are red flags everywhere.

I guess you also don’t believe the 16 year old’s claim since her father “didn’t come forward immediately” and of course that’s not what you’d do.

I sincerely hope you are never in this kind of a situation so that you can continue to judge others up on your high horse.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melissa wrote a letter to the judge asking him to protect her “sweet husband” in prison. 🤮

And you wouldn't do the same if it was your husband and you believed him to be innocent?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/melissa-gilbert-says-her-greatest-joy-in-life-has-been-watching-husband-timothy-busfield-be-a-stepdad-to-her-son-michael/ar-AA1UpGjl?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=696c4786f06e482cb84ff5d2da703661&ei=13

Her son also wrote an amazing letter. Sounds like Bruce Boxleitner has mostly been MIA in his life.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/timothy-busfields-stepson-says-hes-shown-up-more-than-bio-dad/

Majority of people like this do not go after children related to them. Obviously there are some exceptions. The Duggar son in jail for CSAM, I think, would have no issues abusing his own children based on the fact he sexually abused his younger sisters. But like, I don't think Prince Andrew abused Beatrice and Eugenie.

Serial abusers are pretty crafty. Any pedo with two brain cells and a basic sense of self-preservation isn't going to go after his wife's teenage son who lives with them full-time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melissa wrote a letter to the judge asking him to protect her “sweet husband” in prison. 🤮

And you wouldn't do the same if it was your husband and you believed him to be innocent?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/melissa-gilbert-says-her-greatest-joy-in-life-has-been-watching-husband-timothy-busfield-be-a-stepdad-to-her-son-michael/ar-AA1UpGjl?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=696c4786f06e482cb84ff5d2da703661&ei=13

Her son also wrote an amazing letter. Sounds like Bruce Boxleitner has mostly been MIA in his life.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/timothy-busfields-stepson-says-hes-shown-up-more-than-bio-dad/

Wow. Big shocker that the out-of-work D-lister was nice to the nearly adult sons of his wife, the SAG president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melissa wrote a letter to the judge asking him to protect her “sweet husband” in prison. 🤮

And you wouldn't do the same if it was your husband and you believed him to be innocent?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/melissa-gilbert-says-her-greatest-joy-in-life-has-been-watching-husband-timothy-busfield-be-a-stepdad-to-her-son-michael/ar-AA1UpGjl?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=696c4786f06e482cb84ff5d2da703661&ei=13

Her son also wrote an amazing letter. Sounds like Bruce Boxleitner has mostly been MIA in his life.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/timothy-busfields-stepson-says-hes-shown-up-more-than-bio-dad/

Wow. Big shocker that the out-of-work D-lister was nice to the nearly adult sons of his wife, the SAG president.

+1

[Anonymous]

Pedophiles usually have good standing in the community. That’s what’s so shocking.

[Anonymous]

While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

She does have a bad picker. This is also her third marriage and her first two husbands were deadbeats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

To be fair, I believe the last sexually-charged allegations against him were that he was inappropriate with adult women on set, not children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

To be fair, I believe the last sexually-charged allegations against him were that he was inappropriate with adult women on set, not children.

A 17yo female so not quite an adult.
"Timothy Busfield Accused of Sexual Assault by Teen"
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1994/04/02/timothy-busfield-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-teen/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

To be fair, I believe the last sexually-charged allegations against him were that he was inappropriate with adult women on set, not children.

A 17yo female so not quite an adult.
"Timothy Busfield Accused of Sexual Assault by Teen"
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1994/04/02/timothy-busfield-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-teen/

+1 also the latest is a 16 year old. Plus don’t forget the 28 year old from the movie theater - Busfield said that was “consensual” and it was during his marriage. Sicko.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would a grown man (the boss) ever think it’s ok to tickle someone else’s 10 year old children? Disgusting.

Can anyone answer this? Because Timothy admitted to doing just that.

The answer is it’s not ok.

It’s funny - all the Busfield defenders are now oddly quiet. Have they suddenly realized tickling kids on set is gross, weird and inappropriate?

Disagree.
Many adults Busfields age would consider tickling as a way to horse around and develop an easygoing rapport with a kid that makes them see you as fun and good natured rather than serious and scary. While it’s easy to see that a groomer would want to utilize that as a tool to lower inhibitions and gain trust, a director and producer could easily see the value in employing the same practices simply to create a relaxed culture and gain trust and rapport needed to get a relaxed and natural performance out of a child actor.
If a producer/director did that to my kid and it bothered me or the child, I would raise the objection immediately rather than wait until my child was not asked back for another season. The timing is suspicious.

Absolutely not. What part of the rule of “children are not to be touched on set” do you not understand?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I love Melissa Gilbert, she must have a bad picker. No way would I marry someone with any sort of sexual assault allegation against them.
Not sure if the current situation is true, but seriously, if you've been in trouble with this kind of thing before, why even put yourself in that position?

She does have a bad picker. This is also her third marriage and her first two husbands were deadbeats.

On a side note, I find story about their marriage depressing in other ways. She owes a lot in back taxes and they seem like they're barely eking out a living as their careers arw pretty much over. They moved to a cheaper state to live in for a while because of money problems Ohio maybe and maybe it was his home state?) and she was going to run for political office but pulled out. Then they moved to upstate New York into a tiny cabin that looks barely weatherized. There was an article about it in the NY Times. The house looked really shabby. They put a positive spin on it like it was all DIY cool country living on a dime but it looked like plain old desperation. Things weren't going well for them before this.

[Anonymous]

Is it common to go from being a "sex pest" (British term) to 16-25 yo women since the 90s, to 7 yo boys when he's over 60? I just haven't read about that.

It seems abusers have their preference - adults and teenagers past puberty OR pre-pubescent youth. And it seems most abusers stick with female or male, depending on their adult orientation.

Whatever the outcome, I hope there is a recognition that tickling is not fun or playful. No kid likes to be tickled on and on and on. The laughing is involuntary and the kid has no power or voice to make the adult give it up already.

The other outcome should be to make sure productions are following the safety rules that are already in place. If the tutor or guardian is supposed to watch them, if the filming moves to another warehouse on the set, the guardian follows the kids. And if the kids are separated, one out of eyesight of the other, then 2 guardians must be hired. What can Hollywood do to make sure these safety parameters are actually followed?

And no off-set visiting between minors and adults on the production (or even between an 8 yo and a 17 yo). There is no way I would allow my child to be without me in this environment. If both parents need to keep working, then the kids don't need to be child actors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it common to go from being a "sex pest" (British term) to 16-25 yo women since the 90s, to 7 yo boys when he's over 60? I just haven't read about that.

It seems abusers have their preference - adults and teenagers past puberty OR pre-pubescent youth. And it seems most abusers stick with female or male, depending on their adult orientation.

Whatever the outcome, I hope there is a recognition that tickling is not fun or playful. No kid likes to be tickled on and on and on. The laughing is involuntary and the kid has no power or voice to make the adult give it up already.

The other outcome should be to make sure productions are following the safety rules that are already in place. If the tutor or guardian is supposed to watch them, if the filming moves to another warehouse on the set, the guardian follows the kids. And if the kids are separated, one out of eyesight of the other, then 2 guardians must be hired. What can Hollywood do to make sure these safety parameters are actually followed?

And no off-set visiting between minors and adults on the production (or even between an 8 yo and a 17 yo). There is no way I would allow my child to be without me in this environment. If both parents need to keep working, then the kids don't need to be child actors.

Agree with all of the above and especially the bolded. Regardless of his guilt or innocence in this situation, there is NO way I'd let my kids out of my sight on a movie/TV set.