‘7th Heaven’ star Stephen Collins’ accuser reveals 'worst part’ of hearing his sexual misconduct confession
The rise and fall of the once beloved TV dad is being explored in a new series featuring commentary by Dr. Drew, 'Hollywood Demons'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}April Price decided to watch some television after walking her dog when she felt her past came back to haunt her.
It was 2014, and a news program had reported there was audio of former "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins purportedly confessing to engaging in sexual misconduct with underage girls, which was leaked to TMZ. The recording was made during a 2012 counseling session and given to police by the actor’s estranged wife.
"I remember just standing there and watching it play out and listening to that confession," Price told Fox News 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The rise and fall of actor Stephen Collins is being explored in the Investigation Discovery (ID) series "Hollywood Demons." (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
The scandal that forever damaged the veteran actor’s career is being revisited in Investigation Discovery’s new series, "Hollywood Demons" airing on Monday. The show, featuring commentary by Dr. Drew Pinsky, aims to explore the "scandals of life in the spotlight."
Investigation Discovery's "Hollywood Demons" features commentary by Dr. Drew Pinsky. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)
The first episode, which focuses on Collins, features an interview with Price, who claimed Collins exposed himself to her three times when she was 13.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A young April Price is seen here in Stephen Collins during the summer of 1983 while she was visiting her aunt in Los Angeles. (Courtesy of April Price)
Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for Collins, now 77, former cast members of "7th Heaven," as well as Collins’ ex-wife, Faye Grant, for comment. Other "7th Heaven" cast members, including Jeremy London, spoke out in the episode about how they felt when they first learned about the accusations.
According to the episode, producers reached out to more than 100 associates of Collins. Nearly everyone declined to participate or didn’t respond.
The cast of "7th Heaven" celebrate 150 episodes of the hit WB series, circa 2003. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
"I’m a mother now," Price explained to Fox News Digital on why she’s speaking 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."
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April Price is the only accuser speaking out in "Hollywood Demons." (ID)
"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 living in Los Angeles, during the summer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}April Price said she was a fan of Stephen Collins from "Tales of the Gold Monkey" when she met the actor while on summer break. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
"My aunt Cindy was a role model," said Price. "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."
Stephen Collins is seen here filming "Tales of the Gold Monkey" with Leo the dog, circa 1982. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Price learned 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,’" said Price. "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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Price worked up the courage to ask the star for his autograph. He gave her a personally signed headshot.
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April Price said this is the signed photo Stephen Collins gave her when she was 13. (Courtesy of April Price)
"I was so excited to receive it," said Price. "I had a few headshots other actors gave me at the time, but this one was personally written for me."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Price claimed that things quickly took a turn. In the episode, Price alleged that she was in the kitchen cooking breakfast when she looked up and saw Collins walking through the courtyard, right in front of her aunt’s big bay window, naked. Price said she was too embarrassed to tell her aunt, who was at work, what she saw.
A few days later, Price said she needed help setting up her Atari game console. Her aunt was away at work. But Collins was home.
Garth Ancier, who was the co-chairman of The WB Network, told "Hollywood Demons" that he never witnessed questionable behavior from Stephen Collins while on the set of "7th Heaven." (ID)
"Stephen was always very friendly and engaging," said Price. "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 na?ve 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Price said Collins exposed himself to her there. Price said she was stunned and uncomfortable but didn’t want to offend Collins because he was so kind to her and willing to help.
Then at the end of that summer, Price said Collins asked her if she wanted to stop by his home where she could check out memorabilia from "Tales of the Gold Monkey." Once inside, she said Collins appeared completely naked. Nervous, Price said she saw through a window that her aunt had returned home. She used it as an excuse to leave.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tom Greene, producer of "Tales of the Gold Monkey," detailed what it was like working with Stephen Collins in the early years. (ID)
"I justified it," Price reflected. "… 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 said. "It was something that I would think about."
Price said her aunt never suspected anything wrong had occurred.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Price crossed paths with Collins in her 20s on a set. At the time, she was filling in for someone to do craft service on a shoot. Realizing that Collins was part of filming that day, she "felt trapped."
"I’m a dad, first and foremost, above everything else," said Jeremy London in the series. "And so my first thoughts always go to the children." (ID)
The actor recognized her, she said.
"During a break, he came up to me, looked me in the eye, and said it was something that he had thought about deeply," Price 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}April Price told Fox News Digital that when she crossed paths with Stephen Collins in her 20s, she learned that he was involved with charity work. She believed he had turned his life around. (David Livingston/Getty Images)
"Honestly, it gave me a pretty good sense of relief," she said. "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."
Stephen Collins and Faye Grant divorced in 2015. Grant denied ever leaking the audio recordings to TMZ. (Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Grant has said she gave police the audio of a 2012 couples counseling session in which Collins admitted to molesting young girls, doing so only after he refused to seek appropriate treatment. But Grant denied giving the recording to TMZ.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The recording led to re-runs of "7th Heaven" disappearing from cable TV and Collins swiftly losing acting roles. Three law enforcement agencies confirmed to The Associated Press at the time that there were investigations into the allegations.
In 2014, Stephen Collins told Katie Couric in a televised interview, "I’m a human being with flaws. I have dealt with them very, very strongly and committedly in my private life." (Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
In 2014, Collins issued a lengthy statement to People magazine admitting he had inappropriate sexual misconduct with three female minors from 1973 to 1994. That year, he also gave a televised interview to Katie Couric in which he denied being a pedophile. Instead, he described himself as someone suffering from "exhibitionist urges," "big boundary issues" and "poor impulse control."
"Stephen Collins would be a dead man if that was my child," said Jeremy London in the episode. (ID)
He characterized his actions as "terrible, and I regret them deeply," adding, "I’m absolutely not attracted, physically or sexually attracted, to children. I’m just not."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Collins also noted he’s been in treatment and religious counseling for 20 years, "and always will be."
Price is the only accuser who has spoken out. Collins has since attempted to keep a low profile. He told Couric that he hasn't had any "urges" since 1994 and if anyone else came forward claiming to be victims of him,"it would not be truthful."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"7th Heaven" aired from 1996 to 2007. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images)
Price said Collins’ sit-down made her feel "fury, like a volcano," prompting her to speak out.
"It was something I could have very easily let go," she told Fox News 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."
Price said that when the audio recordings surfaced, she reached out to the LAPD and gave a statement. It was her understanding that the statute of limitations had passed. The Los Angeles Times also reported that Collins was never prosecuted due to the statute of limitations. Fox News Digital reached out to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kyle Searles, an actor on "7th Heaven," was stunned to hear Stephen Collins' audio recordings for the first time. (ID)
In 2024, cast members of "7th Heaven" condemned their TV dad in the podcast "Catching Up with the Camdens."
Today, Price admitted she felt "sick to my stomach" revisiting her ordeal. Still, she doesn’t regret sharing her story.
Stephen Collins has kept a low profile over the years. (ID)
"I hope people understand that it’s OK to have a voice," she said. "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 Associated Press contributed to this report.