The former star of family-centric television show 7th Heaven said that he had an “inappropriate” encounter with a girl who was just 10 years old back in 1973, but denied that he was a pedophile.
In an interview with Yahoo’s Katie Couric that was released on Friday, Stephen Collins, who played the father on the show, said he was merely someone who was struggling with “exhibitionist urges” and “poor impulse control,” which led to an enounter in 1973 with the 10-year-old girl while he was 25 years old, according to the Associated Press.
The girl was staying with Collins and his wife, and after his wife had gone to bed, he was watching TV with the girl when he “took her hand and move it in such a way that she was touching me inappropriately.” After 45 seconds, he moved her hand back, and then left after a couple of minutes because he didn’t know what to say and left the room, saying that his decision was “unthinkably wrong.”
That wasn’t the end of his misdeeds, as he exposed himself to a teenage girl nine years later in 1982, and then again 12 years after that in 1994, although he says there was no physical contact. He said the 1994 incident was his last, and anyone claiming otherwise was lying.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is looking into allegations of molestation but hasn’t yet charged him.
Collins claimed that despite the incidents that he is “absolutely not attracted, physically or sexually attracted, to children.” That includes young boys, he added.
He said he has gone through religious counseling in the 20 years since the last incident, and continues to go through it, saying that he is just a human being with flaws that he is dealing with.
The firestorm began in October when TMZ released an audio recording that his estranged wife made during a marriage-counseling session in 2012 in which Collins allegedly acknowledged molesting underage girls.
The revelations led to TV networks cancelling 7th Heaven reruns, and Collins lost roles in films such as Ted 2 and the ABC television series Scandal.
In the 7th Heaven series, Collins played a devoted husband and father of seven who also served as a minister. The series is often regarded as a Christian show that espouses religious family values.
