Stephen Collins Denies He's a Pedophile After Confessing to Sexual Misconduct With 3 Girls

Actor confessed to sexual misconduct with three girls this week.

ByABC News
December 19, 2014, 7:51 PM

— -- “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 aired 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.”