The cast of "7th Heaven" is standing behind actor Stephen Collins, who is under investigation for child molestation. On Tuesday (Oct. 7), TMZ released audio of the 67-year-old allegedly confessing to molesting and/or exposing himself to minors.
The gossip site recently caught up with Catherine Hicks, who played the wife of Collins' character Rev. Eric Camden. She told TMZ that she "didn't know anything" about the allegations, adding "Stephen's a good guy in my opinion."
Hicks also said she never got any suspicions about her co-star while on set.
"No, gosh, no," she told TMZ. "Not to my knowledge!"
Kyle Sears, who had a recurring role on the show, also expressed his shock over the allegations, telling TMZ, "that wasn't who I remembered at all, not in the least bit."
"I never once had any type of encounter where he was maybe a little inappropriate, nobody in the cast had ever come to me, nor was it ever an issue," he said, according to E! News. "Stephen was somebody that I looked up to. If you ask anybody that knows me pretty well and has asked about my experience in Los Angeles and acting, Stephen was by far the most likeable, influential genuine person that I ever had the pleasure of working with."
Sears also said Collins was "definitely a father figure to everyone on set."
In the audio, Collins allegedly confessed to his wife and therapist during a 2012 session that he had been inappropriate with at least three young girls. According to the site, the youngest alleged victim was 11.
"There was one moment of touching where her hand, I put her hand on my penis," the actor quietly told his wife in the audio.
A source told TMZ that the conversation was secretly taped without Collins' knowledge. Reportedly his estranged wife, Faye Grant, was trying to gather more evidence for a possible felony. TMZ reports that the molestation of a child under the age of 14 constitutes a felony.
In a statement to E! News, Grant denied that she was behind the audio getting leaked to the public.
"I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press. I had no involvement whatsoever with the release of the tape to the media," she said.
