The handsome, genial actor who embodied patience and fortitude on the long-running hit TV show 7th Heaven, Stephen Collins, is under investigation by police regarding charges of child molestation–according to People. Collins is still married to the actress Faye Grant, who taped a conversation in which her husband admits the molestation. The audio appears–where else–on the TMZ website. Collins and Grant have been in a long divorce battle.
The confession was part of a therapy session during which Collins might have expected confidentiality. But California law allows the recording of private conversations without both parties’ consent if the taping is an effort to gather evidence of a felony. Child molestation is a felony. Collins, unaware that he was being taped, is very specific about incidents in which he exposed himself to underage girls. The names of the victims have been redacted on the audio. One of Collin’s victims was an 11-year-old relative of his first wife. The tape was made in 2012.
