'7th Heaven' Actor Stephen Collins Must Sit For Deposition In Divorce Case
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former "7th Heaven" actor Stephen Collins must sit for a deposition in his ongoing divorce case and answer questions about the financial fallout from his acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct with three underage girls, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Superior Court Judge Mark Juhas granted a request by Collins' estranged wife, Faye Grant, to get sworn testimony from the actor about any financial damage that child sex abuse allegations have caused.
Collins contends the release of an audio recording of a 2012 therapy session in which he acknowledged inappropriate conduct with three underage girls ruined his career. He is asking a judge to deny any further spousal support to Grant, who recorded the session but denies giving it to celebrity website TMZ.
A trial to end the couple's nearly 30-year marriage and divide their assets is scheduled for February.
Collins lost several upcoming roles after TMZ posted audio of the therapy session last year. He acknowledged in an interview with Katie Couric that he molested one girl and engaged in sexual misconduct with two other underage girls. He denied he was a pedophile and said he has controlled his urges since 1994.
Juhas ruled that Collins' deposition should not be videotaped.
Grant included the molestation accusations in divorce proceedings and authorities in New York and Los Angeles have investigated the claims, but Collins has not been charged.
The alleged incidents occurred between 1973 and 1994, according to a statement Collins released to People magazine in December.
"Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret," Collins wrote. "I have been working to atone for it ever since."
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