“7th Heaven” actor Stephen Collins has reportedly admitted to exposing himself to three young girls over a period of 20 years in a statement to People magazine.
“I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret,” stated Stephen Collins, who had been fired from several projects after recordings of a therapy session were released, according to the NY Daily News.
The actor continued, “I have not had impulse to act out in any such way [in the last 20 years]. Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since.”
Collins reportedly admitted to exposing himself to the three girls in separate incidents in 1973, 1982 and 1994. The first incident reportedly occurred when the actor was 25 and he exposed himself to a preteen girl, according to Today.com.
That same year, he reportedly had another encounter with the girl in his home while they were watching television. Stephen Collins, who is now 67, reportedly placed the girls’ hand on his penis.
“It was a completely impulsive act, and it’s haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through,” he stated.
Stephen Collins defended himself by mentioning that he had “never behaved inappropriately on or off” the set of “7th Heaven.”
“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,” stated Collins.
The actor also explained that he had been able to apologize to one of his victims.
“I did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later. I apologized and she was extraordinary gracious,” Collins explained, according to Fox News.
He added, “But after I learned in the course of my treatment that my being direct about such matters could actually make things worse for them by opening old wounds, I have not approached the other two women, one of whom is now in her 50s and the other in her 30s.”
Collins will reportedly be doing interview with Yahoo and ABC later this week.
