Melissa Gilbert says she’s “confident” her husband Timothy Busfield will be exonerated while still being “prepared for all scenarios.”

Gilbert, 61, spoke with Good Morning America‘s George Stephanapolous for an interview that aired Monday, April 6, her first televised conversation in the wake of her husband’s January arrest on allegations of child sexual abuse.

“I am 100% confident he will be exonerated,” she said. “But I will tell you that there is a practical side to this, and we do have to be prepared for all scenarios.”

After Stephanopoulos asked what “justice” would look like, she replied: “Exoneration. An apology. Freedom from this cloud.”

Busfield, 68, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, and he was released from custody in New Mexico on Jan. 20.

He was indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury on four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor (child under 13) on Feb. 6. Busfield pleaded not guilty to all four counts — which are all third-degree felonies and pertain to events in October 2022 and September 2023, per court documents — on Feb. 10, per a plea entry filed in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court.

Elsewhere during her GMA interview, Gilbert said she knows her husband in her “bones” and claimed “no one knows him better than I do.”

“Our marriage has, you know, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We’ve been through struggles, we’ve had our own issues to deal with and we worked through everything,” she said. “He’s nothing if not completely honest with me. I trust him with my children’s lives, with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews. He is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”

Gilbert also explained why she decided to speak out in her first televised appearance since her husband’s arrest. “It’s time. We’ve been hearing and reading too much untruth,” she said. “And we felt that the time was right to speak out. Also, I wasn’t capable until now. It’s been a very traumatic time.”

A rep for Gilbert previously told PEOPLE that the Little House on the Prairie alum and Busfield’s lawyer Larry Stein wanted to speak with GMA because she “decided it was time to sit down to clarify the facts of the case, which seem to have become lost to distraction, selective information and clickbait.”

The initial warrant, issued against Busfield by Albuquerque Police Department, alleged that Busfield engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with two 11-year-old boys who met Busfield on the set of the FOX series The Cleaning Lady.

He surrendered to police Jan. 13, and the following day faced an additional allegation of sexual abuse, which he has not been charged with. According to a pretrial detention motion filed on Jan. 14, Colin Swift reported to law enforcement on Jan. 13 that Busfield allegedly sexually abused Swift’s then-16-year-old daughter “several years ago” in Sacramento, Calif.

Busfield spoke out for the first time before he surrendered to police on Jan. 13 in a video obtained by TMZ at the time. “I did not do anything,” he said on camera. “They’re all lies and I did not do anything to those little boys and I’m gonna fight it. I’m gonna fight it with a great team, and I’m gonna be exonerated. I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.”

Gilbert has been standing by her husband throughout the legal troubles. She married him in 2013. Her rep, Ame Van Iden, issued an initial statement on her behalf on Jan. 13, noting that Gilbert will not “speak publicly while the legal process unfolds.”

On Jan. 26, Gilbert shared a lengthier statement via her clothing brand, Modern Prairie. “I am sending you all my love and gratitude during this extraordinarily difficult time. Not only for Tim, me and our family, but in the collective heaviness so many of us seem to be carrying right now.”

“This season has reminded me, very clearly, how important it is to slow down, prioritize what truly matters, and allow ourselves moments of rest,” Gilbert wrote. “Stepping back from the noise, the news, and even our daily responsibilities from time to time gives us space to recharge, reflect, and find our center again.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.