Stephen Collins has worked with underage actors for years. The dad on 7th Heaven confessed on tape in a therapy session recorded by his wife that he molested multiple girls over a large number of years. If you want to listen to the audio of the tape,
TMZ obtained a copy and it is disturbing that the actor can't even remember each incident because there are too many. Apparently when Stephen and his wife split he told her about all the girls and then in therapy he started talking about them again and this goes back a long way. He talks about molesting relatives of his first wife. Can you imagine how many underage girls he has worked with over the years? It seems like all he does are shows that put him around young girls. The NYPD is investigating the allegations and have interviewed his wife, but have not interviewed Collins. I wonder if they will, or if he will deny the charges or say the tape is altered. No matter what, this will be the end of his career. No one is going to hire him for any show or movie now.
Wow. That is so awful. Those poor girls.
ReplyDeleteAt least we got the molestation item out of here early. This is extremely disturbing but I don't have much respect for Faye Grant releasing this either and maybe putting the girls into the spotlight after decades. I'd have to check but I thought a while ago he also admitted to either being a drug addict or alcoholic?
ReplyDelete@sandy: Collins definitely was a drunk back in the 7th Heaven days
DeleteAs if Hollywood gives shit about molesters harming children. Woody Allen and Polanski even have pretty much everyone in the industry on their side.
ReplyDeleteTales of the Gold Monkey was one of my favourite crap 80s tv shows. Now that memory has been ruined.
ReplyDeletecnt find anything else bad about him and drugs or alcohol.
ReplyDelete@ Sandy I think he had DUI 's......and yes....not surprised, saddened......apprehend the bastard.
ReplyDeleteFor whtever reason I remember an interview where he might have said playing a Pastor on that show was good therapy for him.
ReplyDeleteI can't find DUI info.....but it's expunged, so to speak, after 10 years so maybe it was a long time ago...but I remember the mugshot...
ReplyDeleteAnfpd that's a creepy thought...I guess the acting therapy didn't work out:(
Disturbing.
ReplyDeleteBravo to her for releasing the tapes, showing us all what a sack of shit this dude is. The girls were minors when this happened, their names will not be released. He deserves to rot in jail. 7th Heaven sucked too.
ReplyDeleteWow.guess the guilt caught up with him
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she did whatever it takes to stop him from ever doing it again.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad she did whatever it takes to stop him from ever doing it again.
ReplyDelete1 down, plenty more to go
ReplyDelete+ 10000000
DeleteI don't like the idea of tapes of therapy being released. Many pedophiles (not necessarily him) have troublesome urges they manage to suppress with the help of a trained therapist. If they know that tapes of their treatment can be released at any time, they are less likely to seek help.
ReplyDeletePeople often also relate fantasies as part of their therapy. Again, I don't know if that relates to this case.
In general, I don't like the trend of private conversations or emails being made public in order to humiliate the speaker. We should all be able to speak frankly to people we love and/or trust without worrying that whatever we say could end up on the evening news.
Nutty I agree. How can tapes to a therapist be released. Isn't there some client doctor privacy thing there.
DeleteGranted I'm happy he can be apprehended and arrested for all the heinous crimes he's commited so I'm quite conflicted about their release. As I know you are.
His wife released them not the Dr. Not against hippa.
DeleteAren't doctors supposed to alert authorities when someone will be harmed? If someone has been harmed?
DeleteIt was relationship therapy with his wife. Not therapy to stop being a child molester. His wife went to a lawyer as the therapy session was triggered by him admitting he had interfered with kids. Lawyer said that in Cali legal to tape if it's going to give evidence of a serious crime, which molesting a child is.
DeleteNo problem with it.
The issue I have is why the tape is at Tmz now.
Bravo for releasing the tapes? She held on to them for years to use them for extortion. She should have gone to the authorities IMMEDIATLEY.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's out. But my beef is that it wasn't sooner.
Delete@sandybrook the tape was recorded in 2012... maybe some police investigation was also held at that time..
ReplyDeleteIf you have this tape (in 2012), and decide not to elease it, but you see countless ppl allowing their children on shows with him (because I don't think he stopped in 2012...) - how do decide..?
The police will not release information. Would you?
Wouldn't you want to warn people..?
I googled the show and saw that 7th Heaven actress Sarah Goldberg just died at age 40. Her obituary is here. Rest In Peace.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad. Natural causes at 40? Heartbreaking.
DeleteWho said she extorted him? Who gives a shit? She released the tapes the authoritiesmay have been notified then, they clearly know now. So yes, bravo. She is not the villain here. The piece of shit who molested little girls is.
ReplyDeleteFrom the TMZ piece, it looks like at least one was reported to NYPD back in 2012. They're just now starting to look into it.
DeleteGrossss!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to start the day
I need more info, and Nutty makes an excellent point.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why should his WIFE be giving him therapy?! Was she licensed? If so, it should probably be taken away...hello, dual relationship! Not ethical at ALL.
ReplyDeleteLots of blinds, I think some even on this site, that he was constantly drunk or hungover on seventh heaven.
ReplyDeleteWait...it could have been couples therapy? Ugh, never mind. I'm off to have coffee before I comment again.
ReplyDeleteI don't really care that she extorted him, I care that she didn't immediatley report him. Obviously he is ultimatley to blame but I can not say bravo to her for covering it up for him for two years--even if she eventually revealed it. She revealed it for her own gain-not for the good of the young girls. I can not say bravo to that.
ReplyDeleteOn TMZ, they explained that it was a joint therapy session with his wife. She was able to legally tape it without his knowledge in CA because she knew he had committed a violent felony.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tmz.com/2014/10/07/stephen-collins-child-molestation-7th-heaven-audio-tape-nypd-investigation/
(Sorry-can't make clicky.)
Let the molestation blind reveals begin.
ReplyDeleteYes, let the molestation blind reveals begin with Enty releasing only the names of the perps and NOT the victims.
DeleteOnce again, disturbed as all hell. Nutty I 100% agree. Therapy sessions should not be disclosed to the public. Not saying that I am not glad to know this about the man so I can vomit every time I see his face in First Wives Club, but this is dangerous territory when you release tapes likes this.
ReplyDeleteHope these girls received help over the years. Sick bastard.
Definitely end of career. However, if you read TMZ, it appears none of the girls were actresses he worked with. Apparently there were three or so girls and he mostly exposed himself. Although there is at least one reference to him having a girl touch him (you know where(. As for the wife, this comes out of an prolonged divorce battle. If she thought the tape was strong bargaining chip she was wrong. He earned most of the money and now the "community property" will probably go to the girls and their lawyers.
ReplyDelete"No one is going to hire him for any show or movie now". It's hard to work while you are in jail.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. He molestated people for years. If he was a priest, everybody would be blaming the pope or his superior (bishop, cardinal...) for not stopping him, why is nobody blaming the director, producer or whatever for this?
@LoMo I don't know, it's a drs. office and usually everything said in there is confidential. He's on the tape too, so he either allowed her to release it or didn't. Fine line here.
ReplyDeleteI say bravo to releasing the tape. Holding onto it was a shitty move. It is good that it is now known though.
ReplyDeleteShe wasn't his therapist. They were in therapy, and she recorded him. I guess if you record someone admitting to a felony in CA, it is legal. I don't know if the therapist even knew she was recording.
They have an adult daughter, I wonder if she factored into this in anyway.
ReplyDeleteI dont care what the wife did to get this info out, she did the right thing. I always thought something was off with him, but never pedophile. He can go to hell, all my sympathy is for victims.
ReplyDelete@Tricia S - DUIs aren't expunged. However, unless there's a news story about it, you won't find any information. California laws are some of the most strict in the nation about releasing criminal records - you almost always have to have a signed consent from the individual. So you'd need to look for news stories.
ReplyDeleteOh, man. :/
ReplyDelete@auntliddy, I always thought there was something not quite right, too. Never understood his appeal.
Mornin' Miss Meanie. How is you gurl? Sounds like you're happy in VA. Check in and lemme know what's up witcha.
ReplyDeleteHi Sherry, luv!! I'm doing quite well here in VA, still getting my bearings. Quite the change from rural NC (though, I miss it. Gawd, I do!).
DeleteI'll shoot you an email with my info, got a new number, love to talk to you, darlin', see how you and the OP are doing. <3
She did report it, the news just has been released until now. I sometimes (oftentimes) wish E would do a less on the proselytizing and a little more on the fact checking.
ReplyDelete“The exposure happened a couple of times … she was 11, and then like 12 and 13,” Collins is heard telling an aghast Grant on the recording. “There was never any conversation around it.”
“There was one instance, where for there was one moment of touching where her hand, I put her hand on my penis.”
At one point, Grant asked Collins, “When you exposed yourself, did you have an erection?” to which he answered, “No, I mean, no … partial, maybe I think.”
@Princess Nobody, while I'm sad that she's passed, that article was a simply lovely antidote to this disturbing news. Sarah sounds like a woman who lived life to the fullest. RIP
there's no confidentiality issue here. i'm dumbfounded anyone is upset that somehow his rights were violated or something. they were not. her attorney advised her correctly.
ReplyDeleteas for the blind saying he won't get work now. DUH. maybe he can be santa in the prison christmas play next year.
I'm not upset about his rights being violated. I am personally agreeing with Nutty because I think the disclosure of private information in Therapy sessions can be a slippery slope. I think I misunderstood initially though because I thought the therapist released the tapes to the media. I am all for releasing information to the proper authorities and putting this man in jail and then chopping his dick off. I personally think it's what should happen to all molesters.
ReplyDelete@Sandy and @ Tricia - you were thinking of Gary Collins (who was married to Mary Ann Mobley). Gary had multiple DUIs, and died in 2012.
ReplyDeleteMy mouth dropped open. You know what people don't realize..? Is it sticks with the victims forever. These guys confess...find JESUS...ask for forgiveness....and the victims are left picking up the pieces. As I have written on this site once before..I was a victim from my brother from the age of 3-17. I am now a survivor. I hope that all the poor girls he has molested consider themselves survivors. He is not worth a pot to piss in. That worthless piece of trash.
ReplyDelete@Harvest Moon Cottage. (((Hugs))) Sister survivor here, too.
DeleteHarvest moon .. sugarhugs for you times 1000. It never leaves you and often runs on repeat in your head..
DeleteI bet his only touching girls is just the Tip of the iceberg of what really happened.
I bet it went Way farther than he will admit.
I wonder if he ever got handsy with a young Jessica biel..
Yes, victims remember FOREVER. Fear and terror have a taste- I'll never forget the sting of it from five years old, it stays with you. I will always abhore men in 501s. Fuck this guy.
DeleteBig love to you survivors.
DeleteI'm not a survivor but my best friend is. Her grandad did it to her. She's had issues with alcohol, suicide attempts, depression etc etc
Fuck the methods, I just hope he gets what he deserves.
My only issue is that Tmz have the tape. I wonder if that will help him and discredit others at a later time
Enty, you're wrong (and you know you're wrong) with your comment about no one ever hiring him again. Look at Woody Allen. Probably 50% of the country thinks he's guilty (although given Mia Farrow's craziness I'm in the other 50% on that one) and he's still making movies. As long as someone thinks he will draw an audience he will get work. That's how Hollywood works, people. Doesn't matter what you do -- murder, incest, child molestation, selling drugs, you name it -- if a producer thinks they can make a buck off of you they will hire you. As for the wife taping their therapy session, I'm pretty sure that recording would get thrown out as evidence, at least in California.
ReplyDeleteFuck Woody Allen
Delete+10000000, @ Rosie!!
DeleteAnd fuck any actor who works with him! I was devastated when Colin Firth signed on with him, but he is dead to me now.
Woody Allen is a molesting piece of shit
Deleteto all the people saying this dude will get a job again because people like woody allen or roman polanski did you're all wrong. this dude is a tv actor that people barely know, he isn't some acclaimed film director so i doubt he will work again. I don't think any of them should ever be allowed to work in hollywood but the higher ups will always find people willing to work with them regardless.
ReplyDelete@MeanieRhysie Thank You and a ton of hugs back to you..and SURVIVOR is right..! No victims here..! Xo..!
ReplyDeleteHoly shizzballs! I've always liked him as an actor. But not now!
ReplyDeleteWhat I missed here is, was this in front of a therapist or professional? Did they not have the duty to then report him?
ReplyDeleteApparently in CA, only one party need be aware of the taping? And therapists can absolute make reveals -- and in fact, we are state-mandated to do so -- when a child or elderly person has been abused, or if a client threatens harm to himself or others. So, yeah, sounds like THAT part is on the up-and-up. Keeping it for years, if that's what they did? Not so much. Stay tuned, right? :-/
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I never watched 7th heaven. No warm and fuzzy daddy memories ruined from my childhood.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is finished in the business.
ReplyDeleteJoeinLA - Woody Allen denied everything, he was investigated by the police at the time and no charges were laid. Therefore legitmate question of his innocence. Supposedly SC admitted on tape to multiple events. Therefore no question about his guilt. That is why WA works and SC won't.
ReplyDelete@sugarbread maker. Thank You so much...! I have not had a good nights sleep. ever. i feel so bad for the survivors. I think of the girls he has molested that can't find their voice...and all the years he has worked and is still working. Funny thing...he will apologize..get help...find people that will forgive him...but the survivors...you put it in the back of your mind...but there are days when it comes through....my heart goes out to them.
ReplyDeleteWoody Allen innocent..? Let's think about this...he MARRIED his girlfriends daughter....that he met when she was a little girl....yes, I can see where a guy that looks for a future spouse in the home of his girlfriend...can be innocent...ahem....
ReplyDeleteBTW, lost sight of names and I was completely flabbergasted as to who his wife was thinking, I now know, it was LEE Grant he was married to! Lol. I was like, his wife was like 80! But I see that's a different woman! Of course, his story is still disturbing.
ReplyDeleteOMG! That is disgusting, those poor girls.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Nutty. I was molested by multiple men from the ages of 6-12. Some people want to call themselves survivors, some victims. I learned a long time ago that the behavior of many molesters stems from abuse that was inflicted on them, and while their actions are deplorable and required much therapy for me to overcome, it also required me to forgive them for acting on impulses. They have just as much right to therapy and recovery as I do. Are they never allowed to seek redemption? I think they are and I think it's pretty shitty that as he was trying to seek help for something he was ashamed of and wanting to remedy, she was trying to gain info for her divorce proceedings. The wife didn't report anything in 2012. The first girl he molested did.
ReplyDeleteI hope for everyone's sake that he continues/continued therapy and seeks real treatment for his mental illness.
So disturbing. I hope in some way this reveal helps his victims find a sense of justice and closure. I guess this is just the beginning though.
ReplyDeleteHe never quite seemed right to me, but I thought that was because his arms are a bit short.
Thx @Surfer
ReplyDeleteThere was an actor named Scott Bairstow (Party of Five, etc.) who molested a relative of his wife's. He started touching her when she was 7 and started having intercourse with her at 12.
ReplyDeleteHe got 4 months in jail.
@ Dexamyl-should've been 40 years.
DeleteI have a friend who was on 7th Heaven and said Collins was a hard drinking fucking asshole that made everyone miserable. But wow, I was not expecting this but I'm not surprised. Too bad he didn't drink himself to death before he decided to children. Fuck this guy.
ReplyDeleteThis also bothers me a lot because of things he said about poor little Ruthie. I hope she wasn't subjected to his abuse too
POS for sure. I heard an interview this morning that the therapist would have been legally bound to let the authorites know if she/he thought he would molest a child (again). I want to know why the therapist didn't turn him over for investigation. Also, a few years ago he was under investigation in New York for child molestation but they did not have enough evidence. :(
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete@sandybrook once u have a kid, you will reconsider your thoughts on rights of child molester seeking redemption vs. rights of a clueless minor to have an abuseless life
ReplyDeleteit is just sad, but for the victims not form him
he was aware of what he was desiring. he could have made the choice, as an adult, BEFORE molesting anyone that I will not do this but seek help already. No, he decided to follow his desires without control and without second thought of teh minors.
Lady H, what did he say about Ruthie?
ReplyDeleteI immediately thought of her too - she was the only one missing from that impromptu dinner reunion of theirs.
My friend said that Ruthie was very strange and isolated. For a while there, the cast was worried because she was acting really weird and talking to herself on set. Like imaginary friends kind of thing that went on for much longer than it should have. Lucy was a big party girl and Biel was said to be a mega Biatch. My friend said the kid that played Simon was obsessed with cars but the most normal and nice of them all. The mom was apparently not bad to work with either actually now that I think about it. He always said Collins was evil, but a bitter guy who was always nasty to everyone.
DeleteI am also disturbed by the tapes of a therapy session being released. Especially since this is in the context of a divorce where the wife potentially stands to gain financially so she doesn't exactly have clean hands.
ReplyDeleteStephen Collins refers to a "disclosure" which sounds like a document that fully revealed everything he said on the tape.
I wonder why someone would voluntarily hand that much ammunition to a woman who is divorcing him.
We are not actually "survivors". We simply EXIST, sometimes with physical scars from self-harm and the obvious psychological trauma. Now we just deal with triggers like this story. Over 25 years of therapy hasn't made this shit go away.
ReplyDeletePoor Kate - I'm sorry this happened to you and you haven't found any relief. They come up with new PTSD therapies often and i hope something in the near future will help.
DeleteThanks for the info Lady H!
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard about him today, I immediately thought of Ruthie - she was so young, I really hope he didn't do anything to her.
One of my favorite movies of his is Stella and he plays a loving father. Now I can never watch it :( the access he had to all those children throughout the decades, its sickening.
Sickening. People can never be too careful with their kids and trust their gut. Who knows how many children were victimized by this man?
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, he was on Sunny about the time this happened with his wife/therapy, and the whole time he was I was thinking "man does he have a new creep factor to him" during all his guest spots. Thought it was just the weird humor of the show, not any more it was the weird dude.
ReplyDeleteRoman Polanski is guilty, Woody Allen is not, this 7th Heaven guy is clearly guilty. If his soon-to-be ex was looking for money, she just blew her chance to get any.
ReplyDeleteC'est la guerre.
Malibu-woody allen is guilty. Guilty of being supersonically creepy. And i do believe he was inapproipiate with his daughters.
DeleteKathy Griffin just posted on Twitter: "Well well well #StephenCollins, looks like u may have finally gotten urself busted after all these years. Jack M, ur next? KG" Any idea who Jack M is? She quickly Tweeted that she did NOT mean Jack McBrayer after a couple of people mentioned him.
ReplyDeletedamn you enty how did this one miss you!
ReplyDeletewhere is the blind for this
I don't know but it definitely took forever, didn't it? ;)
DeleteI would say Jeffrey Jones is a better analogy career-wise - or kiss your career goodbye-wise.
ReplyDeleteThis is what People has as the ex-wife's statement. It sounds like someone in the police or D.A.'s office leaked them.
"I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to the authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press," Grant said. "I had no involvement whatsoever with the release of the tape to the media."
According to court documents filed in November 2013, Grant first discovered Collins's disturbing secret in 2012, while the two were still married.
"On January 19, 2012, I learned for the first time that Stephen had been living a secret life," she declared in the official documents, obtained by PEOPLE. "In the presence of his therapist, Stephen admitted that he had engaged in a long term pattern of sexually abusing minor children, including sexually molesting three young girls over a decade ago." She goes on to say that she believes Collins has "narcissistic personality disorder with sociopathic tendencies."
http://www.people.com/article/faye-grant-stephen-collins-child-molestation
He has always screamed child molester to me. I just don't get why he admitted to it.
ReplyDeleteFuck his career, I hope they get him good when he goes to prison. POS!
ReplyDeletea 54 yr old woman accused him in 2012 of abusing her 40 yrs ago.. thats why the disclosure to courts he was referring to and the couples therapy
ReplyDeletesomeone just shot up his house but cops say he wasnt home.. someone will get him b4 lady justice does,,
ReplyDelete@sugar so he would have been 27 and she would have been 14. Or, if she was 54 in 2012, she would have been 12. From the tape on TMZ, he likes them in the 10-12 range.
ReplyDeleteThe pathology of this sort of sexual attraction and compulsion ... it runs very deep. Sounds like he has had it almost all of his adult life.
I'm not in the mental health profession so this is just my gut reaction.
I am blessed not to have any sort of unnatural urges or addictions so it's not like I have experienced this but I can still imagine what it must be like to be one of these people ... at some level I feel sorry for people like this because they are at the mercy of their impulses which I believe may well be neurological or biochemical.
I know it sounds strange to say that pedophiles are also victims but when you are in the grips of an irresistible compulsion, that's probably a pretty awful life.
Sounds like, if SC was telling the truth, it didn't happen very often and he never had intercourse with them. It's weird that the form it took was so - mild - for lack of a better word. Exposure and some touching. And that it didn't escalate.
I'm not in any way minimizing the effect on his victims. The profound disgust, distrust of adults or even all men in general ... I can't imagine what that must be like.
Maybe I feel sympathy for him because he's a handsome wholesome looking white guy who doesn't LOOK like a pervy pedophile.
I wake up in the middle of the night screaming...still...and tonight I expect I won't get much sleep....he is no handsome, wholesome guy...he is an awful pig.
ReplyDeletepb.. i think he is admitting as little as possible.
ReplyDeletejust cause he said only touching doesnt mean it went down like that
If this has been going on as long as it seems, execs have hired him DESPITE his antics. There is nothing that goes on in personal lives that entertainment heads don't know about. Drugs, sex, violence, perversions of every stripe... THEY KNOW. They just don't give a fuck unless someone gets caught. Then all hell breaks loose. If this guy is a pedophile, then here's hoping his ass ends up in jail or at the tail end of a white hot cattle prod.
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way... I sincerely hope those of you who've endured this sort of hideous violence finds peace and comfort in your lives. I lost a friend to suicide because he could never overcome his own childhood abuse, and as sweet and kind as he was, the world is a bit darker a place for his absence.
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't LOOK like a Pervy !!!!! WHAT????
ReplyDeleteHow does a paedophile look exactly ?
The abuse was mild??? It didn't happen very often ???
ONCE IS TOO OFTEN.
He's a handsome wholesome looking white guy. WTF
Prunella do you know how you have offended people writing this utter bullshit. Even after people had posted about their own experiences of abuse & the effect on their lives.
I rarely get upset about comments, but you have really PISSED ME OFF.
Massive hugs to everyone affected by abuse.
Harvest Moon, I hope your sleeping really well right now Hun..
Yeah, Skippy, I figured you would jump all over me for writing that.
ReplyDeleteBecause you persist in misunderstanding what I write, and taking bits out of context.
If you need a target for outrage, try targeting pedophiles. Like, in real life, when the stakes are high.
Can you say that you have intervened and spoken up and even put your physical safety at risk whenever you have witnessed abuse of an animal, child or adult - whether sexual or otherwise?
I have. Every single time I see it. Because I actually live by this mantra: "If not me, who? If not now, when?"
So I sleep fine at night.
But if it makes you feel like a big brave principled person, go on wicher shrieky self and persist in misinterpreting what I write.
Yes Prunella I have reported abuse many times, in my position as part of an emergency room medical team, and yes I (we) have been threatened many times & have been physically injured.
ReplyDelete@skippy as "part of an emergency room medical team" aren't you legally required to report (suspected) abuse? Congratulations on following the law.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand as a private citizen I am not required to speak up or intervene - but I do.
Having said that, thank you for working in a noble and sometimes dangerous profession.