Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE STAR BREAKS COVER AFTER SEX CHARGES: WHAT DID SHE KNOW?
Episode Date: February 3, 2026Julia Roberts' sister-in-law says Timothy Busfield is a creep who sexually harassed and humiliated her. She also says Busfield is like a rapist who compulsively and indiscriminately targets women. Eli...za Roberts, wife of Eric Roberts, went out of her way to volunteer a statement supporting a 17-year-old girl accusing Busfield of sexual harassment on the set of the movie Little Big League in 1994. Eliza Roberts sees an article about a teenage girl who worked with Busfield on the film set, accusing Busfield of lewd and harassing behavior. Roberts says she was stunned to hear it, "because the same thing happened to me with him". The 17-year-old girl on the set of Little Big Leagues says Busfield invited her to his trailer, gave her alcohol, andpropositioned her. Roberts expresses regret that she did not take stronger action during her own encounter with Busfield. Fearing negative publicity, Roberts says these things can mushroom and get big; she did not want to be taken away from her children, husband, or her own career. Meanwhile, Busfield's attorney, Amber Fayerberg, calls the parents of his current accusers, scammers out for revenge when their child actor sons lost their roles on a TV show. Fayerberg claims the parents got their revenge as Busfield has been cancelled, and his career is over. Busfield's talent agency dropped him, with allegations of pedophilia plastered all over the global media. His life isruined. Joining Nancy Grace today: Josh Kolsrud - Criminal Defense Attorney and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Founder of Kolsrud Law Offices; Facebook and YouTube @KolsrudLawOffices Caryn Stark - Forensic Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Rob Shuter - Host: Naughty But Nice Podcast, Author of Newly-released Novel, “It Started With A Whisper," and Former Publicist of Sean Combs; IG: @naughtygossip Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is an I-Heart podcast.
Guaranteed Human.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
The Blue House on the Prairie Star breaks cover after very disturbing sex charges.
What exactly did she know?
And when this as Hollywood royalty brands the suspect a creep.
I'm Nancy Grace.
This is crime stories.
I want to thank you for being with us.
The argument in court that this whole child sex abuse claim is fabricated over revenge.
One of the boys reported to his counselor at the time, allegedly, that Timothy had touched
him in the front on his privates and in the back on his privates.
Two little boys victimized being used as pawns by probably all parties involved.
What exactly did the Little House on the Prairie start?
know about claims of child sex abuse? What did she know and when? This as that Little House
on the Prairie Star, Melissa Gilbert in the last hours breaks cover and takes to social media.
Look, what are they doing? Little House on the Prairie Star Melissa Gilbert apparently is
eating dessert and dancing in her kitchen. Now, I'm all about eating dessert and dancing
in your kitchen. But right now, there are serious claims of child sex abuse and other
alleged victims are speaking out, including Hollywood royalty, the golden couple in Hollywood.
Nobody's arguing with that. I'm talking about the family of pretty woman, Julia Roberts,
claiming Busfield stalked her. You know what? That's called putting your head in the sand and your
in the air. Putting your head in the sand and your tail in the air. Nothing's happening. Something
is happening. Straight out to Dave Mack, crime stories, investigative reporter. Tonight,
questions swirling about what Melissa Gilbert knew and when. So what, what is that instant?
When did that come out? That's the response. Nancy, actually, the idea of Melissa Gilbert knowing
about Timothy Busfield and what he was doing.
It goes much deeper and much further back.
You realize that the two boys accusing him of doing this on the set,
the Busfield Gilbert couple, they actually took the family in.
They socialized with them away from the set, away from business functions.
And it got to the point where Melissa Gilbert bought Christmas gifts for these boys.
it was a way of ingratiating themselves, maybe?
I mean, this was one of those things, Nancy, that looking back on it, it's the red flag.
Well, here's my concern.
I know that Melissa Gilbert knew about the claims at the time, because she was on a conference
call where it was all discussed, and the explanation was, it's the parents, they're making
it up.
They're out for revenge.
I mean, to Rob Sheeter joining me, he is the PR guru to the story.
to the stars. He's seen them all and worked with them all. I'm talking about Britney Spears. I'm talking
about Sean Puffy Combs. Oh, excuse me, Diddy? And there's the list is endless. Rob Schuter is the
Star of Noddy But Nice podcast. He's author of a brand new book, which is climbing the charts on
Amazon called It Started With a Whisper. And you can find me at robshooter.com. Okay, enough about you,
you, Shooter, can we get down to it? What else can she do? I mean, her entire image is based on
wholesomeness. Look, I had a total Little House on the Prairie addiction. Shooter, as my cases got
more and more evil, more and more dark, more and more disturbing that I prosecuted, in the
morning, I would watch Little House on the Prairie for an hour to calm down before I
I could go to work. I know, I feel like I know this woman. I like this woman, but I can't turn away
from what I'm saying. What else can they do besides say? It's revenge. Right, right. That feeling that
you're having, Nancy, I think that they are exploiting that too. There are many, many people
around the world who loved Little House on the Prairie. It's still beautiful. It holds up today.
I saw a few episodes a few nights ago. It's interesting that it has not been pulled from TV. It's
Stop right there, Shooter, Shooter, please, please.
In my line of business, I have to seize upon every inaccuracy
and then shred the person that said it.
Did you, Rob Sheeter, in the heart of Manhattan,
tell me that you're watching Little House on the Prairie at night?
I am. I love it. I'm an old-fashioned type of guy,
but Manhattan is not this crazy wild town, Nancy. There are people here in Manhattan
and they're really quite sentimental.
I wear my heart on my sleeve.
I love that show.
I love classic Turner movies.
And so, yeah, I was watching it.
And I think that they are, they're praying on people like us who will remember her for who she was, not who she is today.
And these videos sitting in the kitchen, there she is with her friends.
That could be a scene out of Little House on the Prairie.
I think they're really leaning into this nostalgia to make.
make us feel like nothing's going on, that everything is just fine, and to remind us that she's
a really good person, it won't work. It is a huge mistake. They should not be doing this, but I understand
why they think this is a good idea. Judge Cole's rude, I have sat in court so many times at
council table and watched women wailing, crying, clearly distraught on the other side of the courtroom,
hearing the evidence, poor from the witness stand about their husband, their boyfriend,
their love object. They don't believe it. They don't want to believe it. But we have to look at
whether Melissa Gilbert, and this is like dirt in my mouth, whether Melissa Gilbert knew
and unintentionally aided and abetted the grooming process. Now, Josh Coles Rood is joining us, guys,
He is a veteran criminal defense attorney.
He's won a lot of cases.
He's a former prosecutor, U.S. attorney.
He is the founder of the Coles Rood Law Offices.
Josh, I want you to listen to this.
This is what investigators state was happening at the time,
and Melissa Gilbert, God help her, is right in the middle of it.
Listen.
Investigators interview Busfield on speaker, wife actress Melissa Gilbert,
present for the interview.
Busfield denies any wrongdoing.
but admits tickling the boys would not have been out of the ordinary for him as he likes to have a fun set.
Busfield claims the lead actress in the series Elodie Young tells him the mother of SL and VL
wants revenge on Busfield because the boys were not brought back for filming the fourth and final season
of the show, suggesting the reason for the complaint is work-related, not that he did anything wrong
with the boys. Tickling makes a fun set for who? Okay, Josh Coles Rood, I know that you have seen,
vice versa, but typically it's the women being dragged along as the man is being prosecuted
for something. She doesn't believe it. She doesn't want to believe it. And she's right there
in the conference call. There is a conference call where everything is laid out in full and she's
there. Investigators interview Busfield by phone and his wife, actress Melissa Gilbert,
is present for the interview. Well, there's two ways to look at the
number one you know if her husband is innocent you know this is exactly how you would expect a wife to react you know she's been with her husband for a very long time she has stated publicly that he's the most moral person that she knows and that she personally has not observed anything that she feels like was suspicious now this type of behavior as you said isn't abnormal in cases
like this. And I look towards the Jerry Sandusky case. If you remember, he was the assistant head coach at Penn State. And in that case, Jerry Sandusky's wife had a very similar demeanor where, you know, Sandusky was in the basement doing his thing for over 30 years. And she claims that she had no... Wait, wait, wait, objection. Doing his thing. Look around you.
Nothing is airbrushed.
Nothing is edited.
We want the unfarnished truth.
What was Jerry Sandusky doing in the basement, Josh Colesrude?
He was convicted of child molestation.
Many, many counts of that.
And the location where many of those instances took place was in the basement.
And my point is that many people,
couldn't fathom why Mrs. Sandusky would have no knowledge and still to this day stands
behind her husband and says he didn't do anything wrong. The answer is simple. So, and this is well
documented in cases like this, where a spouse, usually a woman, it is a blow against her ego
to realize and know that her husband is a monster because it makes her complicit. It makes her
complicit. It means that she was enabling. Hold on. Hold on. Josh Coles Rood, I'm not saying
that you're wrong, but I think the two of us with all of our law degrees and our graduate
degrees and our trial experience, I really think we need to shrink. Luckily, joining us tonight
is Karen Stark. Karen is a renowned TV and radio trauma expert. She is a consultant. She is a
forensic psychologist. And you can find her at Karen Stark.com. Karen with the C.
Karen, boil it down for me because, according to Rob Sheeter, it's a lot more.
There's a lot more at stake here.
There is a reason she's got her head in the sand and her rear in the air.
She doesn't want to know.
She doesn't want to hear it.
She doesn't believe it.
She can't soak it in.
And there's a reason for that.
What's the reason, Karen?
Well, the reason is her public image.
Everything that we were seeing about her.
She's supposed to be a child advocate, safety advocate.
She preaches that there shouldn't be sexual abuse and to find abusers.
And yet she's living.
It's cognitive dissonance with somebody who is being accused of the very thing that her image is advocating for that she needs to present herself as.
Don't forget Nancy and everybody who's listening.
that she's somebody, she's the little house on the prairie.
She's this perfect woman.
She does all the right things and she's laughing.
And behind it all, she's living with somebody
who has the worst accusations
because we're talking about damage to children.
And so she's got to balance this.
The fact that there are these allegations,
it's more than one incident,
and her public image,
is really important.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Dave Mack, Crime Stories Investigative Reporter.
What did she know and when?
These allegations came up years and years ago.
Nothing was done.
Although there was a full-fledged studio investigation.
isn't that true.
She had to know, and now they've reared their ugly head again,
and she is posting videos of her refrigerator.
Tell me about the studio investigation
that apparently exonerated Busfield many years ago.
Nancy, the studio investigation was actually paid for by Warner Brothers,
the producers of the show that Busfield was working on at the time of these accusations.
So, yeah, there was a third-party party.
investigation. But Nancy, saying he was exonerated by this investigation would require us to
actually analyze what type of investigation was done. And when you get down to the nitty-gritty of this,
you're investigating yourself for alleged abuse kind of thing. There's no way they're going to come
up with anything other than exoneration or they're talking lawsuits. So when you get into that
investigation. It was not done by the police. It wasn't done by anybody other than who Warner Brothers
hired to investigate the allegation. And they said they being, the investigator said they could not
corroborate the allegations. Well, you're right, Dave Mack. Listen. The initial investigation into
Busfield on the set of TV show The Cleaning Lady begins with a complaint made through SAG Aftera.
An internal investigation commissioned by Warner Brothers, a third party hired to investigate,
concluded there was no corroborating evidence
Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct
or was ever alone with child actors.
Busfield claims the studio investigation
cleared him.
That is very different.
The studio investigation
when their rear end is on the line,
their ass in a sling legal term,
very different outcome
than what the LAPD investigators say.
Listen to what they say.
Investigator conclusion. Pedophiles infiltrate families under a trusted role like Timothy,
who, as a producer, exploited the hectic film sets to tickle and touch SL on his penis and buttocks,
masking it as play. He would invite the family to offset gatherings with his wife buying Christmas gifts
to foster closeness, making SL feel special and dependent. Classic grooming to erode boundaries
isolate the victim and silence suspicions by blending abuse into normalcy. The dual tactic,
charming parents while secretly violating the child builds a web of complicity that is hard to unravel,
delaying detection as families trusts the abuser's facade.
Which is true, felony charges have now been brought against the Little House on the Prairie Star
husband Timothy Busfield. They say it's all revenge that the alleged victim's parents are
angry. The children are not brought back for another season. So what is the truth?
What, if anything, can we make of Melissa Gilbert, the Little House star, recent postings?
What is her response? Look.
Hey there, friends, it's me, your friendly neighborhood half pint, aka Melissa Gilbert,
aka the artist formerly known as Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie,
co-founder of Modern Prairie, all things Prairie, Prairie, Prairie, Prairie.
Hey, I am so excited this coming Friday.
we are hosting an event called Ask Melissa Anything.
Literally ask me, well, I mean, within reason, almost anything.
We can talk about prairie stuff, modern prairie stuff,
Little House on the Prairie stuff.
I've got tea to spill, and I am ready to do it.
So go on over to our events page and either on the app or our website and sign up.
And I'm so looking forward to seeing all of you on Friday evening.
It is this coming Friday, and you can ask me anything.
Grab yourself a drink, cozy up, and come hang out.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
It always is.
So what is she doing there, Rob Sheeter?
She's saying, formerly this prairie, that prairie, modern prairie,
Little House on the prairie, prairie, prairie, prairie, that's exactly what you just said.
I'm very smart, Nancy.
She is leaning in.
She is leaning in to what has made her rich, what has made her face.
famous and something from the past which still makes her relevant today.
The show is still a big deal.
It was from many, many years ago, decades ago, but it has held up.
And not only has it kept her in the spotlight, it's made her a lot of money.
This is her identity.
And it feels to me as if she now is more concerned with her public image, with the way that
she's perceived than getting to the bottom of this and figuring out the truth.
If the truth is on her side and she's okay here, all this will go away and she will bounce
back and her career will bounce back.
However, if it's not, it doesn't matter how much spin she does over the next couple of
months.
She's in a lot of trouble.
Josh Colesrude, she is mentioning Ask Melissa Anything Session.
If I were the defense attorney in that case, it would be over my cold dead body, that she
would answer questions that even touched on.
the molestation case?
Well, let me tell you.
She is aware of
the facts of the case
coming from the defense, specifically
that the
parents in the case are
fraudsters, that
the mother in the case
threatened her husband
saying that she was going to get
him after he decided not
to renew
the children's contracts.
And don't forget that
husband. He is a former lawyer. He was convicted, disbarred. He's a man that used his law
license to steal. And it wouldn't be surprising if these two fraudsters coached their children
to make false accusations against this woman's husband in order to gain fame and money.
Now, she is aware of these facts when she gives these statements.
And of course, she has her husband's back.
You know, there's no corroborating evidence.
There's no DNA.
There's no fingerprints.
All you have are the statements from these two children who, and there are inconsistent statements.
Not only that, but the two children also denied that anything happened when they were first interviewed by police officers.
And she knows that too.
Josh.
Josh, my question to you was a good defense attorney would not allow her an open forum to ask Melissa anything at this juncture.
Now, you mentioned that the boys denied everything when they were questioned formally, and you're absolutely correct.
And I'm about to play that right now in Busfield's defense and in Melissa Gilbert's defense.
Let's hear it.
You know what's right and wrong, right?
Yeah.
You don't know one could touch your private areas?
Yeah, but he doesn't touch them.
Doesn't touch your private parts?
Okay, okay.
And you know what's right and wrong, right?
You know where people can't touch, where people can't do?
Yeah, you know that, right?
Does Tim ever do that?
No, he's never to touch me.
Never touched you?
Yeah.
In, like, you know, your private areas, right?
Never did that?
Never.
Okay.
That is very powerful for the defense.
Crime stories with Nancy Grace.
You're not saying anyone is guilty or not guilty.
We are looking at the claims.
And by the way, at this hour, more claims against Busfield are coming out.
claims from people that at the time said they were afraid to come forward that their careers would be ruined and more.
So who's to be believed?
Are they all lying and Busfield and Gilbert are the only ones telling the truth?
Is that possible?
At this hour, Melissa Gilbert fights back by posting foodie instance and more.
It's time for breakfast with a homemade English muffin, a cup of tea.
And of course, our buttercrock.
I'm going to put some butter on my English muffin.
Very excited about this.
And some jelly just a tad.
Hummingbirds are fighting.
This is so great.
I love this.
Yum.
Yum.
Rob Shooter, what is she doing?
She's delusional.
It's a really dumb idea.
I can't quite explain this.
I would imagine when something this horrific happens to a family member,
you do want to retreat to your kitchen and you do want to cook.
The difference is we don't put it on video.
Why are you doing this?
Why are you sending out these staged moments to try and convince us
that everything is absolutely normal?
It's not normal.
It's really, really bad.
And the fact that she's doing this alarms me because it tells me
just how bad judgment she has.
She should say nothing.
She should certainly be with her friends.
She should be in her kitchen.
Just turn off the cameras.
This is not the moment for a PR stunt.
This is not the moment to increase your following
on social media.
This is a moment to get real,
and I fear she's not doing that.
I don't think this is going to be.
One's an angel and one's a devil.
You can be a sex predator,
but also not be guilty of predating on two victims.
This case is riddled with problems.
That doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Karen Stark joining us, trauma expert, forensic psychologist.
What is denial?
It's actually the kind of thing that she is doing right now.
She is doubling down and letting people know that nothing happened.
She's great.
She's the little house on the prairie, wonderful America's sweetheart.
And yet, all of this is going on around her.
her. We know about it. It's in the social media, the news, and she is not even acknowledging it.
She's acting as though nothing has happened. And that's a great example of denial where you are
not paying attention to something that's happening. And it's so evident to people who are
watching. You know, Josh Coles, Root, I know you're going to disagree with me on this, but
charges can be made given the right facts for aiding and abetting.
And I never dreamed of a day when I was watching Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House,
getting ready to go try a murder case, psyching myself up, that one day I would put the name Melissa Gilbert in the same sentence as aiding and abetting child molestation.
And I can tell you this, if this ever does go to a jury, the state's going to have H-E-D-L pinning that on her because it's like trying to convict Doris Day for Pete's sake.
It just, no, everything screams, no.
But aiding and abetting takes under the law, takes into account the jury can look at behavior before, during, and after the incident.
If she aided and abetted him in grooming these boys, she's in a whole heap of trouble, providing it's all true, providing the state can overcome the boy's denial.
And the reason there should be concern amongst the defense camp tonight is more alleged victims are coming out, including victims connected to Julia Roberts.
You know, pretty woman, she's never had a scandal in her life.
She's gold, right?
She's pristine.
So what I'm saying is it's not just the two boys that when they're little, they recant.
I've had child molestation victims recant because mommy asked them to because
mommy's getting paid by the molester.
It's happened.
So it's not just those two little boys anymore.
It's lots of girls, lots of young women, other people coming forward.
So am I not supposed to believe all of them and only?
believe Melissa?
So what would an aiding and abetting charge entail?
Because she needs a lawyer tonight, Coles Rude.
Well, you know, charges honestly could be barely brought against her husband, let alone an
abetting charge against her.
So aiding and abetting requires that a suspect be aware that a crime has been committed or is
going to be committed or is currently being and that they give the person aid or comfort.
They assist them in committing the crime or after the fact as well.
They help hide the crime or they give comfort to the person who committed the crime.
But here there is absolutely no evidence that this lady knew of anything.
Not only that, but what you're saying.
It's not that you were aware of the crime.
You should have been aware of the crime.
That's like you and I get in the car and we drive over the Mexico border.
And I go, what?
I thought that was confectionate sugar in all those bags of the Trump.
It's cocaine.
Are you serious?
No.
No and no.
That's not the way the law.
works, ignorance of the facts or the law is not going to be a defense. If she should have known,
molestation was happening. That's the standard, not if she chose again to stick her head in the
sand and her rear in the air. But it's not just that, Nancy, is that she knew, should have known,
and provided aid and comfort that helped facilitate the crime. It's one thing to should have known. But
that doesn't require her to do anything.
Unless she is bringing children to her husband for the purpose of sexually assaulting them,
there's aiding and abetting just isn't going to happen.
Not only that, but in this case, the touching allegedly occurred on set.
You know, where was she during this time?
Was she bringing the children there?
No, it was her parent.
It was a kid's parents.
We're telling the children to hug everybody on the set.
You know, the parents who are fraudsters telling their little kids to go hug all of the adults,
especially Tim, the suspect in this case.
And I'll tell you what is suspect.
The entire case is suspect, which is the entire reason why the judge released Tim Bansfield.
He said that Tim Busfield was not a danger of the community and he was not a substantial flight risk as well.
That is saying-
Put him up.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, did I not say at the beginning?
I don't have a dog in the fight here.
I don't know what the truth is.
I'm trying to find out the truth.
And right now I'm trying to find out what, if anything,
did Melissa Gilbert know?
And when did she know it?
Again, I heard the recantation.
I heard what the boy said.
It's damning for the state.
Yet I also know Colesruid that other alleged victims are coming forward.
And there's a whole other issue is if all of these allegations are false,
why isn't Busfield
counter suing for defamation?
Somebody jumped up and said,
I ate it and abetted or I molested someone.
Oh, yeah, they're going to land in court
by my own hand and I will sue their bridges off.
What?
There's no correlation from what the other
alleged victims are saying in this case.
The other alleged victims are adults,
they're female.
There's no modus operandi that is similar between those two victims.
So because they're female, it didn't happen.
They're not saying it happened today or yesterday.
They're saying it happened in years past.
We have heard a lot about what is wrong with the two little boys now grown and their testimony,
their claims of being abuse victims.
But what about other alleged victims?
There was one interview with a makeup artist who said that everybody,
but he kind of watched out for Timothy Busfield
because he had poor boundaries, and she used the word creep.
In the last hours, more claims against Melissa Gilbert's husband,
Timothy Busfield, who is a star in his own right,
have emerged.
And this time, they're the gold standard
because they're connected to Hollywood royalty,
and that is Julia Roberts.
All right? Listen.
Julia Roberts' sister-in-law says Busfield is a creep who sex-terassed and humiliated her,
saying Busfield is like a rapist who compulsively and indiscriminately targets women.
Eliza Roberts accusing Busfield.
1994.
Eliza Roberts sees an article about a teen girl who worked with Busfield on a movie accusing Busfield of looted and harassing behavior.
Robert says she was stunned to hear it, quote,
Because the same thing happened to me with him.
The 17-year-old girl on the set of Little Big League says Busfield invited her to a
trailer gave her alcohol and propositioned her. Roberts expresses regret she did not take action at the time
fearing negative publicity. Robert says these things mushrooming and get very big. She did not want to be
taken away from her children, husband, or her own career. Assuming her encounter with Busfield was
isolated, Eliza chooses not to say anything, but after reading about a 17-year-old being done the same way,
she comes forward. Indignant other women making claims against Busfield were being called liars.
Crime Story's investigative reporter, Dave Mack, what happened? We're talking about Eliza Roberts. Now,
coming out with her own story regarding Timothy Busfield. What happened?
Nancy, this actually is so explosive when we go back to the 17-year-old girl on the set of Little Big League,
who made the accusations back then. Busfield, in all of his mouthpieces, came out calling her a liar,
and anybody who was on her side of liar.
That's when this is the part that really breaks my heart.
Eliza Roberts actually reads in the paper,
these girls being called liars,
after she had experienced Busfield five years earlier.
And in that, she said that she ran, she didn't even know him.
She's an actress and a casting person,
but she didn't really know him and runs into him at a bookstore.
And Busfield chats her up,
but he starts off.
kind of being a fatherly guy talking about marriage and things like that, but he moves this
conversation into fill. This isn't in public at a bookstore. Robert says that she just wanted
to get the heck away from him. He says vulgar things that he wants to do with her, that he'd be
great with her in bed. She gets out in the car. She's just trying to leave, right? Busfield.
As she's backing up, she looks at the window, and there's Busfield. He starts again.
Okay, hold on, Dave Mack. I'm going to spare you. Listen.
In the parking lot, Eliza Roberts prepares to back out of the parking space, turns around, and is shocked to see Busfield is standing at her car window.
Busfield begins speaking to Roberts being very graphic, vulgar. Busfield tells Roberts, I would really love to know how you taste. I would like to lick your blank.
Roberts is very upset. Busfield continues talking about specific sexual acts and how they would be great together.
finds it difficult to get away.
Okay. You know what?
When I put a witness on the stand,
I know they're going to get cross-examined.
I have to measure their credibility,
their veracity, their truthfulness
before I put them up there.
And I don't care what they are.
I don't care if they're walking the street.
I don't care if they have a criminal record.
I don't care if they're a nun, a priest, or virgin.
I have to weigh their credibility.
And one thing I look for is richness in detail.
Dave Mack does, Eliza,
Roberts, Julia Roberts' sister-in-law state that she encounters Busfield in a bookstore,
a children's bookstore, as I recall. He approaches her and begins a normal conversation that
it quickly veers off into highly inappropriate. She leaves. She's backing out of her parking
spot, turns around, and there he is at her car window and says graphic vulgar comments
like, I would really love to know how you taste. I would like to lick your blank. She gets upset,
and she takes off, and she never forgot it. Is that her statement, Dave Mack? Yes, and it even goes
a tad further, Nancy. When she pulls out of the parking lot, Busfield follows her, Nancy.
She drives several blocks away to a car wash,
and he's still right there with her
and continuing to say filthy, vulgar things to her.
She could not shake this guy.
Okay, it's not just that.
And again, she would have to take the stand
and be subjected to cross-examination.
I don't know what's going to happen.
Will her story fall apart?
Don't know.
And there's the issue why she's coming forward now.
She says, and others say as well,
they didn't want to blow up their career.
at the time. But it's not just her. There is a Minnesota case. Listen. The Minnesota case and the
sworn statements filed as part of it are not the only allegations to have resurfaced in recent weeks.
In addition, it has emerged that a 16-year-old girl in Sacramento accused Busfield of groping her
in 2001 at a theater in the city he co-founded. In that instance, the accuser says Busfield kissed
her, put his hands down her pants and touched her privates. The incident was not reported.
reported to police after Busfield begged and pleaded with the family.
The girl's father, a therapist, agrees to not file charges if Busfield receives therapy.
Josh Coles Rood, take off your defense hat just for a moment.
I know that the case in chief regarding the two boys can be attacked.
I played their recantation.
Recantations are not unusual in cases of child molestation, but yet there it is.
and it was powerful enough for the trial judge to allow Busfield to walk ROR released on his own recognizance.
No bond necessary.
A jury may feel the same way.
But now there are more and more people, alleged victims, coming out.
What do you make of it?
Just be honest.
Don't argue with me.
I'm trying to get to the truth.
So the judges are going to look at similarities.
They need to look at what the new.
allegations are against the women and how similar they are to the allegations at hand. If they are not,
if they're not against the same age group, if they weren't similar in how they were conducted,
and if they weren't similar in remoteness of some time, they're not coming in as evidence in the
jury will never hear them. Dave Mack joining me, Dave Mack, isn't it true that the hospital
employees that interviewed the two little boys at the time. They did a child abuse response
team interview. What were their findings at the time, regardless of their recantation?
They believed that both boys had been groomed and assaulted. You're telling me, hospital employees
stated that they interviewed the boys and thought the boys had been assaulted. Yes. They felt
like they had been groomed and sexually assaulted. Yes.
Well, at this hour, we know that following Busfield's release on ROR,
release on own recognizance, he lived it up in a very, very expensive Airbnb.
Busfield trades the orange jumpsuit and all-in-one metal toilet sink of county
for pampered swanky Italian-style mansion Airbnb costing $2,483.
The private hot tub, a bit nicer than watching your back in the jailhouse shower, the house has a spectacular stained glass dome and comfy beds with high-quality linens.
No cold coffee and stale toast at this incredible hideaway in the ABQ.
Guys, what is the truth?
Who's telling the truth?
More victims coming forward, more alleged victims.
We've got a recantation of the boy victims.
What, if anything, did Melissa Gilbert know?
And when?
We wait as justice unfolds, and now we remember an American hero, C.O. Helen Smith, North Carolina Department Public Safety,
killed in the line of duty after three-year service leaving behind a husband turned widow and two children without a mother.
American hero, C.O. Helen Smith.
Nancy Grace signing off.
Goodbye, friend.
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