Melissa Gilbert cryptically shared a quote from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” as she apparently celebrated the dismissal of her husband Timothy Busfield’s indictment for child sex abuse.
“So a good deed shines in a tired world,” Gilbert, 62, posted on Instagram Friday after a New Mexico judge dismissed charges against the 69-year-old actor, accused of inappropriately touching twins on the set of “The Cleaning Lady.”
The line, which Gene Wilder said in the 1971 film, was said when Charlie Bucket makes the Gobstopper eternal rather than betray Willy Wonka.
It was adapted from William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” in which Portia says, “So shines a good deed in a wicked world,” after noticing a burning candle in her home and thinking about how a good deed can stand out in a troubled world.
State District Judge Joseph Montano cited prosecutorial misconduct and errors that plagued the grand jury proceedings when he dismissed the indictment against the “Thirty Something” actor.
Busfield’s attorney, Amanda Fayerberg, said Friday that her client was “relieved and grateful” after reading the judge’s decision.
Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek another indictment.
The case stems from Busfield’s work directing the television series “The Cleaning Lady” in Albuquerque between 2022 and 2024.
The parents of the twins who appeared on the show alleged that the actor touched their children inappropriately after they were fired from the production.
A boy told investigators that Busfield touched his private parts over his clothes twice when he was 7 and 8 years old, according to a criminal complaint filed in January.
His twin brother also said he was hit, although he did not specify where, according to the complaint.
Busfield turned himself in and was released pending trial.
The “West Wing” actor has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In June, his lawyers moved to dismiss the indictment, accusing prosecutors of mishandling the grand jury proceedings and arguing that the boys’ parents coached them to make incriminating statements after they lost their docket.
At a hearing in September, Fayerberg accused prosecutors of preventing grand jurors from hearing from key witnesses, despite their availability to testify.
“The state engaged in egregious prosecutorial misconduct,” she said.
District Attorney Greer Staley pushed back, arguing that the defense mishandled presentations of evidence and that Busfield spent three hours trying to steer jurors toward witnesses and evidence favorable to him.
The “Field of Dreams” actor told jurors the case turned his life upside down and affected his family. He also testified that he was “cancelled” and fired by his agency.
“I say it’s absolutely a billion percent false. Never,” Busfield said, responding to the allegations.
Each count carried a potential prison sentence of six years, which could have been extended.
The legal battle also coincided with a major move for Gilbert, who married Busfield in 2013.
In June, the “Little House on the Prairie” star shared photos of moving boxes as she prepared to leave the Manhattan apartment she and Busfield had lived in for eight years and move upstate full time.
“A long time ago, a perfect little one-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side. The last eight years here have been so special,” she wrote.
“I promise we’ll come back, that’s just it for now… well… you know,” she added.
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