Actor Stepen Collins and his estranged wife Faye Grant.
Stephen Collins has admitted that the sexual abuse accusations made against him are true, and is now speaking out about his crimes.
In a year that has included over 20 accusations of sexual harassment against Bill Cosby
(to which he has remained mostly silent), and the surfacing of Mama June’s child-molesting ex in the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo drama, Collins’ comments of admission come as somewhat of a surprise.
Early this fall, Collins had an audio recording leaked by TMZ
onto the internet from a private therapy session in which he discussed
inappropriately touching young girls. His wife, Faye Grant, with whom
Collins is currently in a divorce battle, made the recording without
Collins’ knowledge or consent.
Since then, Collins has stayed silent over the issue, but he has recently confessed to People
in an essay set to be published this week that he indeed had
inappropriate sexual encounters with three female minors between 1973
and 1994.
“Forty years ago, I did something terribly
wrong that I deeply regret,” Collins writes. “I have been working to
atone for it ever since. I’ve decided to address these issues publicly
because two months ago, various news organizations published a recording
made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential marriage
therapy session in January, 2012. This session was recorded without the
therapist’s or my knowledge or consent.”
“On the
recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago…
The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and
innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As
difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth.”
Collins has apologized to only one of the victims, and he explains why he did not reach out to the remaining two.
“I
did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later.
I apologised and she was extraordinarily gracious… 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 is scheduled for an interview with Katie Couric that will be streamed on Yahoo.com. The full written statement of his story will be published in People on Friday (19 Dec.)
