7th Heaven re-runs pulled after child molestation allegations against actor Stephen Collins
Re-runs pulled after allegations against veteran actor Stephen Collins
Two US cable television networks said they would not broadcast scheduled re-runs of veteran TV actor Stephen Collins' beloved family series following allegations of child molestation against him.
The networks, UP TV and TV Guide, announced the cancellations on Tuesday. New York police confirmed they had an open investigation into allegations the actor molested a teenage girl in the early 1970s.
New York Police Department said the complaint was filed in 2012 accusing Collins of forcing a then-14-year-old girl to commit a lewd act in his Manhattan apartment in 1972. The case remains open and is being handled by Special Victims Division detectives; no charges have been filed.
Hollywood trade publications reported on Tuesday that Collins lost a role in the film and resigned from his position at the acting guild SAG-AFTRA.
Pamela Greenwalt, a spokeswoman for SAG-AFTRA, declined to comment on Collins' departure from its national board. The actor's name had been removed from lists of current board membership by Tuesday afternoon.
The actor's estranged wife, Faye Grant, wrote in a sworn court declaration in Los Angeles last year that her husband had disclosed he molested at least three young girls.
Grant wrote in the November 2012 declaration in the couple's divorce case that she reported abuse to Los Angeles police, who said they were not actively investigating the actor, but could not offer details on any previous investigations. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said it did not have records of a case being given to prosecutors.
"Stephen admitted that he has engaged in a long-term pattern of sexually abusing minor children, including sexually molesting three young girls over a decade ago," Grant wrote in the sworn declaration, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in November.
The report to New York police was made six months after Collins filed to divorce Grant, whom he married in 1985.
Grant and Collins separated in February 2012, roughly two weeks after the actress said she learned of her husband's abuse in therapy sessions. Collins filed for divorce three months after the separation.
Grant states her husband has said two of the girls he molested were between the ages of 10 and 14. She said she had no indications that he was abusing girls until he disclosed it in therapy, and that she reported his disclosures to police in New York and Los Angeles.
Collins has worked steadily in television and movie roles since the early 1970s, appearing in such films as , , and such series as , and after concluded its 11-season run in 2007.
