April Price decided to watch some television after she had walked with her dog when she felt her past coming back to chase her.
It was 2014, and a news program had reported that there was audio of the former “7th Heaven” star Stephen Collins who reportedly confesses to sexual misconduct with minor girls, who was leaked to TMZ.
The recording was made during a 2012 consultancy session and given to the police by the alienated woman of the actor.
“I remember that I just stood there and saw it playing and listening to that confession,” Price told Fox News Digital.
“I know that although she squeaks the name, I knew he said my name. I knew he described me. That was an absolute gut pons. Then the worst for me at the time found out that I wasn’t the only little girl.”
The scandal that has forever damaged the career of the veteran actor will be revised in the new series of Investigation Discovery, “Hollywood Demons” that will be broadcast on Monday.
The show, organized by Dr. Drew Pinsky, wants to explore the “scandals of life in the spotlight”.
The first episode, which focuses on Collins, contains an interview with Price, who claimed that Collins exposed to her three times when she was 13.
Fox News Digital reached for a spokesperson for Collins, now 77, former cast members of “7th Heaven”, as well as the ex-wife of Collins, Faye Grant, for comment.
Other cast members “7th Heaven”, including Jeremy London, expressed the episode about how they felt when they first learned about the accusations.
According to the episode, producers have contacted more than 100 Collins employees. Almost everyone refused to participate or did not respond.
“I am a mother now,” Price explained to Fox News Digital about why she speaks out. “I could push it on the side and not think about it. But as a mother I hope that my child could come to me if something happened to him that made him feel uncomfortable, victim or threatened in any way.”
“I hope that my voice will give strength to other people, perhaps in the same cases where they do not feel so comfortable about something that speaks very uncomfortable or disturbing in their lives,” she added.
In 1983 the Oklahoma resident, then 13, visited her aunt, a producer who lived in Los Angeles in the summer.
“My aunt Cindy was a role model,” said Price. “She was only a year older than my mother … And able to come to Hollywood was deeply exciting and glamorous for me. I would go to the production company with her. I remember that I was going on the set with her.”
Price learned that the neighbor of her aunt Collins, star was of the ‘Tales of the Gold Monkey’ from 1982, a drama inspired by Indiana Jones.
“I was really enthusiastic because I was a big fan of” Tales of the Gold Monkey, “said Price. “He was someone I was aware of before I ever went outside. When my aunt first told me he was her neighbor, I was excited to meet him. He was very merciful, very nice, very fascinating … Often they are with actors speaking, they are not really interested in a conversation. But Stephen was very attractive.”
Price worked the courage to ask the star to ask his signature. He gave her a personally signed headshot.
“I was so excited to receive it,” said Price. “I had a few headshots that other actors gave me at the time, but this one was personally written for me.”
Price claimed that things quickly took a turn. In the episode, Price claimed that she was off the kitchen in 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 to set up her Atari game console. Her aunt was gone at work. But Collins was at home.
“Stephen was always very friendly and attractive,” said Price. “There was never a time when he was nothing but that, so he was very willing and almost enthusiastic to help me. I laugh at how naive I was about that. I even hit myself in an older age to look back on. But at that moment it was:” Can you please help me? ” It was something I would have asked my father to do.
Price said Collins exposed to her there. Price said she was stunned and uncomfortable, but did not want to insult Collins because he was so nice to her and was willing to help.
At the end of that summer, Price said that Collins asked her if she wanted to stop at his house, where she could view Memorabilia from “Tales of the Gold Monkey.” Once inside she said Collins seemed completely naked. Nervous, Price said she saw through a window that her aunt had returned home. She used it as an excuse to leave.
“I justified it,” Price reflected. “… I was mentally making every excuse in the world. This is his place, this is where he lives. Maybe this is just something that he does. This is something I have to get used to. I just honestly didn’t know how I could even understand what had happened. I was still apologies because he was a handsome movie star and I didn’t want to insult him.”
“I spent many years processing it,” she said. “It was something I would think about.”
Price said her aunt never suspected that something wrong had taken place.
Price crossed paths with Collins in its 20s on a set. At the time, she was filled in for someone to do traditional service during a shoot. She realized that Collins was part of filming that day and ‘felt’ trapped ‘.
The actor recognized her, she said.
“During a break he came to me, looked at me and said it was something he had thought deep,” said Price. “He was deeply ashamed and he was sorry deeply and that he knew what he had done was completely wrong and asked for my forgiveness.”
“To be honest, it gave me a pretty good sense of relief,” she said. “At the time it gave me permission to let it go. He acknowledges that what he did was wrong, and he gives responsibility for it. He expressed regret of it … I thought he had done the work.”
Grant said that she gave the police the audio of a counseling session of 2012 in which Collins admitted to molest young girls, only after he refused to seek appropriate treatment. But Grant denied giving the recording to TMZ.
The recording led to the repetition of “7th Heaven” disappeared from cable TV and Collins quickly lost acting roles. Three law enforcement agencies confirmed to the Associated Press when there were studies into the allegations.
In 2014, Collins issued a long statement to Mensmagazine Admittedly, from 1973 to 1994 he had inappropriate sexual misconduct with three female minors. That year he also gave an interview on television to Katie Couric in which he denied being a pedophile. Instead, he described himself as someone who suffered from ‘exhibitionist -drives’, ‘big border problems’ and ‘bad impulse control’.
He characterized his actions as “terrible, and I deeply regretted it” and added: “I absolutely do not feel attracted, physically or sexually attracted to children. I just am not.”
Collins also noted that he is in treatment and religious counseling for 20 years, “and it will always be.”
Price is the only prosecutor who has spoken. Collins has since tried to keep a low profile. He told Couric that he had not had “drifts” since 1994 and if someone else came forward and claimed to be a victim of him, “would not be truthful.”
Price said that the sit-down of Collins felt her ‘fury, like a volcano’, so she pronounced herself.
“It was something that I could have let go very easily,” she told Fox News Digital. “I could have sat there and never say another word about it. And then he gave that interview to Katie Couric and it was trivialized … It was furious … The only thing I could do was see red.”
Price said that when the audio recordings were popping up, she was in contact to the LAPD and made an explanation. It was her understanding that the status of limitations had expired. The Los Angeles Times Also reported that Collins was never prosecuted because of the status of limitations. Fox News Digital reached the office of the public prosecutor in Los Angeles for comment.
In 2024, Cast members of “7th Heaven” condemned their TV father in the podcast “Catch up with the Camdens.”
Today Price admitted that she felt “sick in my stomach” and repeated her test. Yet she does not regret her story.
“I hope people understand that it’s ok to have a voice,” she said. “The idea of being a victim makes me crazy. I never liked that feeling. I think it can talk about trauma empowerment. And if someone can see it and take strength from someone else who talks about it, then that’s all I need.”
“Hollywood Demons” will be broadcast on research discovery on Monday at 9 p.m. The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
