Stephen Collins, who played the beloved father and pastor on the family-friendly series “7th Heaven,” has reportedly been caught on tape admitting he molested three young girls.
In the tape posted on TMZ, a man who the site claims is Collins is heard telling his therapist and wife about the incidents. TMZ reports Collins’ wife, Faye Grant, secretly recorded the tape to use in their divorce proceedings.
An agent for Collins did not immediately return FOX411’s request for comment.
The man on the tape is heard recalling a time when he exposed himself to a 10-year-old girl.
“…There was one instance, where… there was one moment of touching,” the man says.
The man then admits that he had similar incidents with two other young girls, including one who was “The niece of someone that lived across the way.”
The full, disturbing audio, from TMZ, can be heard here:
Collins — who is in the middle of a nasty, prolonged divorce with actress Faye Grant — revealed to her in 2012 he had molested and/or exposed himself to several underage girls years before. Collins and Grant went to a therapist where she peppered him with questions about the incidents … and he not only answered, he was specific.
Here’s what Collins didn’t know at the time. Grant taped the therapy session. We’re told her lawyer advised her it was legal to secretly record the conversation because in California you’re allowed to secretly record conversations to gather evidence the other person committed a violent felony … and molesting a child under the age of 14 qualifies.
An NYPD official tells TMZ … there is a current, active investigation. The official says there are “at least 3 victims” and the nature of the investigation is “inappropriate sexual contact with minors.”
Law enforcement sources tell us … one alleged victim in the investigation is the relative of Collins’ first wife, who we’re told first reported the molestation in 2012. One law enforcement source tells us … although decades have passed since the molestation, they believe the case can still be prosecuted because the statute of limitations runs from the date of reporting.