NYPD Investigating Actor Stephen Collins for Alleged Child Molestation
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Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — The New York Police Department is investigating allegations that former 7th Heaven actor Stephen Collins inappropriately touched at least one underage girl in multiple incidents that occurred over 40 years ago, ABC News Radio confirms.
The alleged incidents came to light when TMZ posted an audio recording, purported to be of Collins and his estranged wife, actress Faye Grant, during a session with a therapist said to be from 2012, the year Collins filed for divorce. Grant questions Collins about the incidents, which Collins confirms also involved exposing himself to girls as young as 11 years old.
The NYPD says one allegation dates to 1972, and involved a then-14-year-old girl, related to Collins’ first wife, who made genital contact with Collins and who is now reporting it.
Because at least one of the girls involved was reportedly from New York, the NYPD is investigating. A police source tells ABC News Radio that whether or not Collins can be criminally prosecuted for the alleged acts will depend in part on what the statute of limitations is for them.
Collins, who turned 67 on Oct. 1, starred as family patriarch Rev. Eric Camden on the CW’s 7th Heaven from 1996-2007. His more recent roles include the TV series Devious Maids and Revolution.
ABC News Radio has also confirmed that in the wake of the allegations, Collins has been dropped from the cast of Ted 2. According to Entertainment Weekly, it’s not known what Collins’ part was in the Seth MacFarlane sequel, but reps for the film say that it was small enough that its removal won’t disrupt the project as a whole.
UP TV said it would pulled reruns of 7th Heaven from its programming schedule effective Tuesday.
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