Stephen Collins' Wife -- How Dare You Make ME the Villain

Stephen Collins is a lowlife who is deflecting his confessed child molestation by falsely accusing his wife of offering to cover up his misdeeds for a hefty price ... this according to her lawyer.

Faye Grant's attorney, Larry Ginsberg, tells TMZ, Collins' lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, has defamed Grant by accusing her of extortion. Kaplan says Grant held the audio over Collins' head for a price.

Ginsberg says Grant did not peddle the audiotape to the media ... rather she gave it to both the NYPD and the LAPD 2 years ago after he refused to get help for pedophilia.

And contrary to Kaplan's claim Grant wanted to fleece Collins out of his entire fortune ... Ginsberg says, "Faye never asked to receive more than the 50% of the community property to which she is entitled."

As for the extortion claim ... Ginsberg says absolutely not true. He does say Grant requested he create a trust fund for their daughter and make a contribution to a charitable organization benefiting sexually abused kids, but Ginsberg says it's outrageous to call that extortion.