Stephen Collins’ Wife Faye Grant Denies Releasing His Alleged Child Molestation Audio Confession
Stephen Collins’ wife has denied releasing the audio of his child molestation admission. Faye Grant said that she handed the recording over to the authorities in 2012, and was unaware that it had been shared to the media.
On Tuesday, TMZ has released an audio that was secretly recorded by Grant her therapy session with the “7th Heaven” actor in 2012. The recording contains Collins’ admission to molesting, exposing himself to three underage girls years ago.
Read: ‘7th Heaven’ Pastor Dad Stephen Collins Admits to Exposure, Child Molestation on Tape – Report
TMZ did not reveal how they got hold of the tape, though there are readers who assumed that Grant, who is in a prolonged divorce battle with Collins, must have handed it to the gossip Web site.
However, the 57-year-old actress has denied any knowledge of the release of the tape, saying that she had handed it over to the authorities in 2012.
“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. I had no involvement whatsoever with the release of the tape to the media,” she said in a statement to E! News.
ET has obtained Grant’s declaration in court, which was part of their divorce proceedings in 2012. According to the document, the couple separated in the same year when Grant learnt “for the first time that Stephen had been living a secret life.”
Prior to that, however, she did not know of Collins’ past as a molester.
“Again, I had no knowledge of Stephen’s secret life until January 2012,” she said in her declaration. “I never witnessed anything first-hand that would have given me any indication of what Stephen was doing. After Stephen admitted to molesting the three young girls, I reported his acts to the police in both Los Angeles County and New York City.”
Collins admitted in the recording that he had exposed himself to three underage girls, two of them lived in New York, while the other was in Los Angeles. Grant believed that there were more victims.
“I have urged Stephen multiple times to seek proper treatment for paedophilia,” she continued. “I am particularly afraid of what may happen if he does not seek treatment, because he may be working or interacting with children in connection with his employment.”
When she insisted that he seek proper help, Collins, 67, apparently refused, claiming her concerns were “unfounded.”
The husband of one of Collins’ three alleged victims has sent Grant letters threatening her with a civil lawsuit for Collins’ assaults. The husband has criticised her for her “cowardice in not turning Stephen in to the police.”
Grant has been married to Collins from 1985 until their separation in 2012. They have one daughter together, Kate, who was born in 1989. Collins’ first wife Marjorie Weinman apparently was the first to report the molestation in 2012 after learning that he molested a relative of hers.
Collins has been dropped from Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted 2,” and has resigned from his position in the Screen Actors Guild national board shortly after TMZ has released the audio.