Stephen Collins Admits to Child Molestation in New Statement

[JamesG]

"7th Heaven" Star Stephen Collins Admits to Molesting Underage Girls: "I Did Something Terribly Wrong"
Dec 17, 2014
by Liz Raftery


Stephen Collins has admitted to molesting three underage girls several decades ago.

"Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since," the "7th Heaven" star told People in a statement. "As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth."

"On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago. The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred."

Collins adds that he apologized to one of the women 15 years ago, and she was "extraordinarily gracious," but he has not approached the other two after being told in treatment that he "could actually make things worse for them by opening old wounds."







Allegations against Collins surfaced in October, after TMZ published an audio recording of Collins talking about having inappropriate contact with three underage girls from 1973 to 1994.

The recording was made by Collins' then-wife, Faye Grant, during what was supposed to be a confidential therapy session. (The couple is in the midst of divorce proceedings.)

Collins tells People that the session was recorded "without the therapist's or my knowledge or consent."



An interview with Collins and Katie Couric about his confession will stream on Yahoo! and air on ABC's "20/20" on Friday.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Stephen-...r-1090986.aspx

[DJM77]

Take notes, Mr. Cosby!

[Mr. Television]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...age-women.html


I did something terribly wrong': Shamed 7th Heaven actor Stephen Collins pens confession detailing the multiple times he exposed himself to underage girls

The actor was first accused of the abuse in October, when his ex-wife released a taped confession from a marriage therapy session
Collins, 67, has stayed out of the public eye since then, but has now spoken out to admit to the inappropriate acts in an essay
The actor has never been charged for exposure of molestation
He will speak about the essay with Katie Couric on Friday

By Ashley Collman for MailOnline


The actor who played the righteous dad and pastor on long-running TV show 7th Heaven, has come out to confirm shocking reports of sexual misconduct with young girls.

Stephen Collins has admitted to the crimes in a lengthy confessional essay for People magazine, saying he inappropriately touched one girl and exposed himself to two others between 1973 and 1994, and that his actions were 'inexcusable' and have 'haunted' him ever since.

While none of his victims have ever publicly come forward, and the 67-year-old never charged, reports of his misbehavior surfaced in October when his soon-to-be ex-wife Faye Grant released a taped confession which was obtained by TMZ in the midst of their bitter divorce.

In the public backlash to the TMZ tapes, Collins lost parts on TV show Scandal and in the sequel to the movie Ted, while re-runs of 7th Heaven were pulled from the air.

'Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since,' Collins wrote in People.

He says he's decided to speak publicly about the reports because he believes some of his actions have been elaborated.

'On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago,' Collins adds. 'The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth.'

He says the only time he touched a girl inappropriately was in 1973, when he was 25 and a pre-teen girl came to stay with him and his first wife.

Collins says he exposed himself to the girl twice before, but took things to another level on the visit.

'When the girl and I were watching TV alone, I moved her hand in such a way that caused her to touch me inappropriately. It lasted less than a minute, during which there was no gratification,' Collins said. 'I then left the room. I had no further physical contact with her. It was a completely impulsive act and it's haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through.'



Over the next two decades, Collins says he continued to expose himself to two more teenage girls, once in 1982 and again in 1994.

'The first instance lasted second and the second about a minute,' Collins says of the indecent exposure. 'I had no physical contact of any kind with either girl. I don't say this to excuse what I did - it was inexcusable - but to clarify what actually happened.'

Collins says the exposure in 1994 was his 'rock bottom' and what caused him to finally seek help for his deviant behavior.

For the past twenty years, Collins says he's undergoing therapy and religious counseling, while praying and meditating every day.

These treatments, Collins claims, have worked and kept him from harming other young girls.

'Since that day in 1994, I have not had an impulse to act out in any such way.'

Collins has only apologized directly to one of his victims, who he says was 'extraordinary gracious', but has not reached out to the others for fear that he will be 'opening old wounds'.




The actor also describes how the recorded confession came to be. He says he and his wife Grant were undergoing marriage therapy sessions in hopes of healing their relationship.

The second follow-up session is when Collins says he and the therapist were taped by his wife without either of their knowledge.

The couple of nearly thirty years, filed for divorce in 2012 but have been engaged in a heated legal battle over how to split their assets.

Grant, who is also an actress, is fighting for high spousal support payments of $13,000 a month, saying she is no longer able to make a living from her career when she took a break to raise their daughter.

She also says she only released the taped confession to police, when Collins allegedly denied to seek treatment for his issues. She denies ever turning the audio over to TMZ.




Collins says the release of the tapes in October led to confusion over when he exposed himself to the young girls, and if it was possible one of his young co-stars on 7th Heaven was a victim.

'I appeared for eleven seasons on a television series with a cast that included minor females in our TV family, and countless other young actresses throughout the show's eleven years. I never behaved inappropriately on or off that set - or on any set I've ever worked on.'

When the tapes were first released, law enforcement in New York and Los Angeles said they were investigating the claims.

But law enforcement sources who spoke with TMZ said that despite the taped confession, they felt Collins would not be charged and 'the cases will go nowhere'.

The LAPD confirmed to MailOnline on Wednesday that they never reopened a case into Collins, and had simply been reviewing the recording in October.

Calls and emails to the NYPD were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Collins says he planned to release a statement after his divorce was finalized, but decided to come forward earlier when the trial was postponed.

He says he owed family, friends and the public an explanation.

'I want to reassure them about who I am, and I want them to understand that I take these issues very seriously,' he said.

Collins is due to speak about the essay with Katie Couric on Friday.

[Mace Dolex]

Its sad but at least he admits to it.

[TMC]

His "apology" means nothing to me. He is only thinking about his residual checks and finding new acting jobs. If he was truly sorry in any way he'd give the money he makes for the interview to his victims. Plus, he's only confessing to 3 victims and incidents that occurred years and years ago, way outside the statute of limitations. WHO CARES how long ago it was?! The people he molested certainly don't care. I hope the victims use his confession and utilize it as evidence in civil lawsuits.

[Mr. Television]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/stephen-col...ry?id=27728607

Stephen Collins Denies He's a Pedophile After Confessing to Sexual Misconduct With 3 Girls
Dec 19, 2014, 7:51 PM ET
By LAUREN EFFRON
Lauren Effron More from Lauren »
Digital Producer
via 20/20


“7th Heaven” actor Stephen Collins says he is “absolutely not” a pedophile, claiming that the three underage girls he confessed to having sexual misconduct with were isolated incidents.

“I'm absolutely not attracted, physically or sexually attracted to children,” Collins told Yahoo Global Anchor Katie Couric in an exclusive interview that will air on ABC News’ “20/20.”



Collins also denied that there have been any more victims, saying if more come forward, claiming he had been inappropriate with them, “it would not be the truth.”

“I didn’t white-knuckle this... I’m not fighting. It’s not like if I miss therapy next week something’s going to happen,” he added. “I'm a human being. I have faults, and I've done things that I deeply regret.”

The 67-year-old actor, best known for his role as Pastor Eric Camden, the family patriarch on the TV show, “7th Heaven,” confessed this week to sexual misconduct with three underage girls years ago, a shocking revelation that has made him an entertainment industry pariah.

Allegations of Collins’ wrongdoing first surfaced in October when a 2012 audio recording of his confession during a marriage counseling session with his estranged wife, Faye Grant, was released by TMZ. The audio included Collins admitting to the three incidents of sexual misconduct.

Collins said Grant had secretly recorded every disturbing word, and he didn’t know his wife was wearing a wire until she told him after one of those sessions.

“She took me into a stairwell, and she told me there,” Collins said. “She revealed that--she said, ‘I recorded. I was wearing a wire. I recorded that session.’ … and she said, ‘Here's our settlement. You're going to sign it now. Or … that recording is going to find its way to the media.’”

“I've always said this, marriage is absolutely unfathomable,” he added. “You think you understand someone else's marriage, nobody does. Nobody does.”

Grant denies being the source of the leak, and in a statement to ABC News today, she said, “Stephen's statements about me are false and appear to be an attempt by him to deflect from his conduct. I sincerely hope Stephen gets the help he needs.”

But the fallout from the leaked audio recordings was fast for Collins. He was dropped from a recurring role on ABC’s “Scandal” and fired from the soon-to-be-released movie, “Ted 2.”

In talking with Couric, Collins described an inappropriate encounter with one of the underage girls, saying he knew he had done something “unthinkably wrong” that he couldn't take back.

Collins said there were two times in 1973 where he exposed himself to the “young woman.” He was 25 years old at the time, and she was 10.

According to Collins, the underage girl had come to visit and stay with him and his first wife, and after his wife had gone to sleep, he and the girl were watching TV together.

“And I took her hand and moved it in such a way that she was touching me inappropriately,” he said. “I knew that something unthinkably wrong had just happened that I couldn't take back, And I--I think we both just sat there. We really didn't move a muscle.”

“And after about--what I recall was about 45 seconds, I took her hand and moved it back,” Collins continued. “I waited a couple of minutes, because I just didn't know what to do or say. And then I got up and left the room.”

Collins also confessed to exposing himself to a 13-year-old girl in 1982, the same year he met Grant on the set of “Tales of the Gold Monkey,” and to a third girl, a 14-year-old, in 1994. But he said “there was no physical contact of any kind with either of them.”

“The look on the one in 1982 was such that it immediately… just stopped everything cold,” he said. “It was clear that she was disoriented and frightened, and that just made me want to stop and cover up, and I did.”

“It was not exciting. It was not gratifying. There was no gratification,” he added.

For the past 20 years, Collins said he has been in intensive therapy, which has included therapeutic workshops, religious counseling and a 12-step program. In discussing his difficult past, Collins speculated that the reason he committed these acts was because of something he experienced in his own childhood.

“The thing that makes the most sense to me, and it's not an excuse, because none of this is an excuse… but I did have someone in my life when I was between the age of about 10 and 15, an older woman, who repeatedly exposed herself to me,” Collins said.

Collins said that older woman would appear in “various states of undress, or complete undress” on several occasions.

“And I think that that distorted my perception in such a way that some part of me thought--because--I never felt like I was molested. Never occurred to me, that word never crossed my mind as a 10- to 15-year-old boy. It was a very intense experience. But I think somewhere in my brain I got the equation of, ‘well, this isn't so terrible. I mean this person who I trust is doing it,’” he said.

“It's not why I did it,” Collins continued. “I’m not blaming her … I'm just saying, I think that's an aspect that went into my own distorted thinking as a young man.”

When asked why he did these things, Collins said, “It was a combination of poor impulse control, arrogance, 25-year-old arrogance.”

“I think it is about power, but not consciously,” he said. “There is a statement that says ‘figuring it out is the booby prize.’ Now that sounds odd. What that means to a lot of people in recovery is you can figure it out, you can intellectually understand it, but what’s important is what your behavior is. I’m still in regular therapy. I always will be out of respect for those women and it’s just not going to happen again and it hasn’t and I feel very confident that it won’t.”

Until now, Collins had kept a low public profile, avoiding questions about the scandal and his nasty divorce to Faye Grant. He said he wanted to do this interview because he hoped it will help him move forward.

“The truth as painful and it is less painful than the stuff that was flying around the Internet and some of the rumors, and I feel very, very sure that these things are behind me,” he said.

But Collins said he is constantly atoning for the harm he caused three young girls years ago.

I think of those women--every day,” he said. “And I would say, ‘With all my heart, I am sorry for what I put you through… and I want you to know… that nothing like that will ever happen again.’”

[Flying Dutchman]

Originally Posted by DJM77

Take notes, Mr. Cosby!

I wonder if that arrogant Jackass will ever admit to what he did? Someone once said that Bill plans to take it to his grave, and it seems he is out to do that very thing.

Atleast Stephen Collins is willing to come clean on TV. I don't think I can watch him on 7th Heaven anymore, but it's a start for him.

I also have to wonder if the reason for not approaching the other 2 victims is because they may bring a lawsuit against him?

[JO Sweet Heart]

Stephen saying anything at all about what he did in that counseling session when he didn't have to bring up anything about it at all period is the reason why I have not walked away from him like everyone else has. I believe that he truly regretted what he did for the reasons why anyone should regret a wrong doing.

God bless you and him and the three girls always!!!

Holly

P.S. I have wondered if him being a preacher on the 7th Heaven show is one of the ways that he has tried to make up for the wrong that is in his past.

[TMC]

http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2017/DEC.html

304. ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER 12/29 **#8**
You Don't Want To Do That: This exiled child molester who used to disguise himself as an A-/B+ list mostly television actor with a long running hit show to his credit is set to emerge from exile and be cast in a project for the first time in years. I guess they believe his story and aren't worried about the half dozen women or so who are waiting to strike if he lands this new gig. They all share the same type experience as the one who brought him down. Stephen Collins ("7th Heaven") (ready to strike)

[TMC]

7th Heaven: The Case of Stephen Collins | dreading