April Worth determined to look at some tv after strolling her canine when she felt her previous come again to hang-out her.
It was 2014, and a information program had reported there was audio of former “7th Heaven” star Stephen Collins purportedly confessing to partaking in sexual misconduct with underage women, which was leaked to TMZ.
The recording was made throughout a 2012 counseling session and given to police by the actor’s estranged spouse.
“I remember just standing there and watching it play out and listening to that confession,” Worth informed Fox Information Digital.
“I know that even though they bleeped out the name, I knew he was saying my name. I knew he was describing me. That was an absolute gut punch. Then the worst part for me, at that point, was finding out that I wasn’t the only little girl.”
The scandal that perpetually broken the veteran actor’s profession is being revisited in Investigation Discovery’s new collection, “Hollywood Demons” airing on Monday.
The present, hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky, goals to discover the “scandals of life in the spotlight.”
The primary episode, which focuses on Collins, options an interview with Worth, who claimed Collins uncovered himself to her 3 times when she was 13.
Fox Information Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Collins, now 77, former solid members of “7th Heaven,” in addition to Collins’ ex-wife, Faye Grant, for remark.
Different “7th Heaven” solid members, together with Jeremy London, spoke out within the episode about how they felt once they first discovered in regards to the accusations.
In keeping with the episode, producers reached out to greater than 100 associates of Collins. Practically everybody declined to take part or didn’t reply.
“I’m a mother now,” Worth defined to Fox Information Digital on why she’s talking out. “I could push it to the side and not think about it. But as a mother, I would hope that my child would be able to come forward to me if anything happened to him that made him feel uncomfortable, victimized or endangered in any way.”
“I’m hoping that my voice will lend strength to other people, maybe in the same instances where they don’t feel as comfortable speaking about something deeply uncomfortable or unsettling in their life,” she added.
In 1983, the Oklahoma native, then 13, was visiting her aunt, a producer residing in Los Angeles, in the course of the summer time.
“My aunt Cindy was a role model,” stated Worth. “She was only a year older than my mother… And being able to come to Hollywood was deeply exciting and glamorous to me. I would go to the production company with her. I remember going out on the set with her.”
Worth discovered that her aunt’s next-door neighbor was Collins, star of 1982’s “Tales of the Gold Monkey,” an Indiana Jones-inspired drama.
“I was really excited because I was a big fan of ‘Tales of the Gold Monkey,’” stated Worth. “He was somebody I was aware of before I ever went out there. When my aunt first told me he was her neighbor, I was excited to meet him. He was very gracious, very kind, very engaging… A lot of times when you speak to actors, they’re not really interested in having a conversation. But Stephen was very engaging.”
Worth labored up the braveness to ask the star for his autograph. He gave her a personally signed headshot.
“I was so excited to receive it,” stated Worth. “I had a few headshots other actors gave me at the time, but this one was personally written for me.”
Worth claimed that issues shortly took a flip. Within the episode, Worth alleged that she was within the kitchen cooking breakfast when she regarded up and noticed Collins strolling by way of the courtyard, proper in entrance of her aunt’s huge bay window, bare. Worth stated she was too embarrassed to inform her aunt, who was at work, what she noticed.
Just a few days later, Worth stated she wanted assist establishing her Atari sport console. Her aunt was away at work. However Collins was dwelling.
“Stephen was always very friendly and engaging,” stated Worth. “There was never a time when he wasn’t anything but that, so he was very willing and almost eager to be able to help me out. I laugh at how naïve I was about that. I beat myself up even at an older age to look back on that. But at the time, it was, ‘Can you please help me?’ It was something I would’ve asked my dad to do. And he was the age of my father.”
Worth stated Collins uncovered himself to her there. Worth stated she was surprised and uncomfortable however didn’t need to offend Collins as a result of he was so sort to her and keen to assist.
Then on the finish of that summer time, Worth stated Collins requested her if she needed to cease by his dwelling the place she may take a look at memorabilia from “Tales of the Gold Monkey.” As soon as inside, she stated Collins appeared fully bare. Nervous, Worth stated she noticed by way of a window that her aunt had returned dwelling. She used it as an excuse to go away.
“I justified it,” Worth mirrored. “… I was mentally just making every excuse in the world. This is his place, this is where he lives. Maybe this is just something he does. This is something I have to get used to. I just honestly didn’t know how to even comprehend what had happened. I was also still making excuses because he was a good-looking movie star and I didn’t want to offend him.”
“I spent a lot of years processing it,” she stated. “It was something that I would think about.”
Worth stated her aunt by no means suspected something improper had occurred.
Worth crossed paths with Collins in her 20s on a set. On the time, she was filling in for somebody to do craft service on a shoot. Realizing that Collins was a part of filming that day, she “felt trapped.”
The actor acknowledged her, she stated.
“During a break, he came up to me, looked me in the eye, and said it was something that he had thought about deeply,” Worth claimed. “He was deeply embarrassed, and he was deeply sorry and that he knew what he had done was completely wrong and asked for my forgiveness.”
“Honestly, it gave me a pretty good sense of relief,” she stated. “At the time, it gave me permission to let it go. He recognizes that what he did was wrong, and he’s admitting responsibility for it. He’s expressing remorse for it… I thought he had been doing the work.”
Grant has stated she gave police the audio of a 2012 {couples} counseling session through which Collins admitted to molesting younger women, doing so solely after he refused to hunt acceptable therapy. However Grant denied giving the recording to TMZ.
The recording led to re-runs of “7th Heaven” disappearing from cable TV and Collins swiftly shedding appearing roles. Three legislation enforcement businesses confirmed to The Related Press on the time that there have been investigations into the allegations.
In 2014, Collins issued a prolonged assertion to Individuals journal admitting he had inappropriate sexual misconduct with three feminine minors from 1973 to 1994. That yr, he additionally gave a televised interview to Katie Couric through which he denied being a pedophile. As an alternative, he described himself as somebody affected by “exhibitionist urges,” “big boundary issues” and “poor impulse control.”
He characterised his actions as “terrible, and I regret them deeply,” including, “I’m absolutely not attracted, physically or sexually attracted, to children. I’m just not.”
Collins additionally famous he’s been in therapy and spiritual counseling for 20 years, “and always will be.”
Worth is the one accuser who has spoken out. Collins has since tried to maintain a low profile. He informed Couric that he hasn’t had any “urges” since 1994 and if anybody else got here ahead claiming to be victims of him,”it will not be truthful.”
Worth stated Collins’ sit-down made her really feel “fury, like a volcano,” prompting her to talk out.
“It was something I could have very easily let go,” she informed Fox Information Digital. “I could have sat there and never said another word about it. And then he gave that interview to Katie Couric and downplayed it… It was infuriating… All I could do was see red.”
Worth stated that when the audio recordings surfaced, she reached out to the LAPD and gave an announcement. It was her understanding that the statute of limitations had handed. The Los Angeles Occasions additionally reported that Collins was by no means prosecuted because of the statute of limitations. Fox Information Digital reached out to the Los Angeles District Lawyer’s Workplace for remark.
In 2024, solid members of “7th Heaven” condemned their TV dad within the podcast “Catching Up with the Camdens.”
At present, Worth admitted she felt “sick to my stomach” revisiting her ordeal. Nonetheless, she doesn’t remorse sharing her story.
“I hope people understand that it’s OK to have a voice,” she stated. “The idea of being a victim makes me nuts. I’ve never liked that feeling. I think being able to talk about trauma is empowering. And if any one person can see it and take any strength from somebody else talking about it, then that’s all I need.”
“Hollywood Demons” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Investigation Discovery. The Related Press contributed to this report.
