Stephen Collins Talks About Childhood Predator
In a sit down interview with Stephen Collins, Katie Couric asks the 7th Heaven actor to open up about the molestation cases that he admitted to in a therapy session. Since the recording of the therapy session leaked to TMZ, Collins has been silent on all forms of social media.
What people didn’t expect is that Collins would reveal a shocking claim that comes from his own childhood. The actor went on to say one of the reasons why he participated in this behavior several times is because he was exposed as a child.
Today @KatieCouric discusses her exclusive intv w/ Stephen Collins @TheView that airs Friday on @YahooNews & @ABC2020 pic.twitter.com/BvcorpCzoC
— The View (@TheView) December 18, 2014
“The thing that makes the most sense to me, and this is not an excuse—’cause none of this is an excuse—but I did have someone in my life, when I was between the ages of 10 and 15, an older woman, who repeatedly exposed herself to me.”
Collins continued, “and I think that that distorted my perception in such a way that some part of me thought…’cause I never thought that I was molested, it never occurred to me, that word never crossed my mind as a 10 to 15-year-old boy. It was a very intense experience, but I think somewhere in my brain, I got the equation of, ‘Well, this isn’t so terrible. I mean, this person who I trust is doing it.'”
The actor explained to Katie Couric that he exposed himself in front of a “young woman” in 1973. Months later when the young woman was watching television, he placed her hand so that she was inappropriately touching him. He participated in similar behavior in 1982 and again in 1994 with two teenage girls. At the time, Collins said they were 13 and 14 years old.
Stephen Collins on sexual abuse reports: “I didn’t choose this to come out” http://t.co/uvyg5xDFmZ – @YahooNews pic.twitter.com/rWpbSAiiOD
— ABC News (@ABC) December 18, 2014
Although he doesn’t blame the woman who exposed herself to him, he does attribute that experience to his behavior as an adult.
“I’m not, I’m not blaming her. I’m just saying I think that’s an aspect that went to my own distorted thinking as a young man.”
If he had the chance to talk to the women he harmed Collins said he would apologize. His voice emotional as he explained exactly what he would say to them. “I would say, with all my heart, ‘I am sorry for what I put you though and I want you to know that nothing like that will ever happen again.'”
[Image via Warner Bros]
