Stephen Collins Child Molestation

Stephen Collins' lawyer is putting his client's estranged wife Faye Grant on blast, claiming she has been trying to use the audiotape for years to extort money out of the actor.

Collins' lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, tells TMZ, "Over the course of my representation of Stephen in the divorce case, Faye has repeatedly threatened to give this audiotape to the media unless Stephen agreed to pay her millions of dollars more than that to which she was legally entitled."

Kaplan goes on, "When these demands were rebuffed, Faye attempted -- without success -- to peddle the tape in numerous ways to numerous different people. It appears that she has finally found an audience for this tape -- not surprisingly, on the eve of the trial in the divorce case where, again, she is seeking millions of dollars more than that to which she is legally entitled."

Kaplan then says he'd like to address the audio confession but can't, saying, "Though we would like to address the tape itself, the circumstances dictate that we must regrettably refrain from doing so at this time."

And a source close to Collins says the incidents on the audiotape occurred between 20 and 40 years ago.

Stephen Collins' house has been swarmed by LAPD officers after someone in the news media claimed to have heard a shot ... but TMZ has learned the actor is not at home and he's fine.

Reporters staked out Collins' San Fernando Valley home Tuesday night ... in the wake of TMZ's story about Collins confessing to molesting and/or exposing himself to young children.

One of Collins' neighbors -- actress Donna D'Errico -- tweeted a photo showing at least 6 LAPD units and wrote that the actor shot himself.

Stephen Collins' confession he molested young girls is already causing collateral damage ... episodes of his most famous TV show, "7th Heaven" are being yanked off the air.

A rep for TV Guide Network -- which airs re-runs of the show -- tells TMZ the two episodes remaining on the schedule will not air -- nor will any future episodes of "7th Heaven."

We're told ... programming honchos dropped the hammer on the show ... after seeing our story that Collins was recorded during a therapy session ... confessing to acts of molestation years ago.

Stephen Collins is a pedophile with a "long term pattern of sexually molesting children" ... this according to Collins' wife.

In the 2014 divorce docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Faye Grant claims Collins "admitted that he had sexually molested 3 underage girls over a decade ago: At least two of these girls were molested over the course of several years."

Grant says in a declaration, she is "sickened by Stephen's actions." She says, "I have urged Stephen multiple times to seek treatment for pedophilia, but "he has refused to seek proper help or hospitalization for the predilection toward children."

Just like a scene from "7th Heaven" ... Stephen Collins' TV family is standing by him in the wake of his child molestation confession.

Collins' TV wife, Catherine Hicks, had high praise, saying Collins has always been a good guy.

Kyle Searles -- who had a recurring role on the show -- said on TMZ Live ... he's shocked and confused by our story ... because Stephen was the ultimate father figure on the set.

Both say they saw nothing during production that raised suspicions.

Stephen Collins' vast acting career was sure to touch on the topic of child molestation ... but looking at these clips now ... it's just plain creepy.

An episode of "7th Heaven" that aired on May 1, 2000 dealt with child molestation -- Here's the description of the show: "Rev. Camden counsels a sexually molested girl to help her express the rage and pain she has been hiding from her family."

In the scene the girl reluctantly admits to Collins' character the bad things that happened to her.

Meanwhile, in the fantastically awful 1996 Lifetime movie "The Babysitter's Seduction," Collins sleeps with his teenage babysitter (played by a 19-year-old Keri Russell) after his wife dies (he might have killed her, we didn't watch the whole thing).

Collins also appeared in an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" in 2008 ... which might be the most ironic part of his career.

The woman who triggered the NYPD Stephen Collins child molestation investigation told detectives ... the actor had an M.O. -- which began with wandering into her bedroom with only a towel around him.

TMZ broke the story ... Collins admitted on tape to molesting and/or exposing himself to 3 young girls ... one of whom was related to his first wife. According to sources present during the police interview ... the woman claims when she was 10 she would sometimes stay with Stephen and his wife at their NYC apartment.

She told cops ... she would sleep in the guest room and Stephen would come in after showering, wearing only a towel. She claims he would then expose himself and several times put her hand on his penis. She says he would also touch and rub on her.

The woman claims she would often thwart Collins' overtures by pretending to be asleep.

We're told the woman says in the '90s she was watching TV with her husband and saw Collins on the screen, and then told her husband for the first time Collins had molested her.

We're also told in 2000 the woman contacted Collins' current wife, Faye Grant, by sending her an anonymous letter warning her that her husband was a child molester.

Nothing happened for 12 years. Then, in late 2011 ... Grant reached out to the woman, after Collins told his wife about the sexual contact, and the girls with whom it had occurred with.

Grant sent the woman an email -- obtained by TMZ -- in which she says, "Stephen lied when confronted 12 years ago. He said he had a hole in his holey jeans, as was the style then, and you 'must have' seen his genitalia one time."

Grant goes on, "Stephen is not remorseful, shows no guilt, and his shame is demonstrated as extreme self pity. He wails and cries, 'I'm in so much paaaaaain!!!'"

We know the woman says she will cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation.

Stephen Collins has resigned his position on the National Board of the Screen Actors Guild ... following our story that Collins confessed to child molestation and/or exposing himself to 3 young girls.

A rep for SAG/AFTRA tells TMZ ... Collins resigned today, prior to his 3-year term coming to an end.

Collins was also fired from "Ted 2" Tuesday morning, in addition to being wiped from the website of the Committee For Stress-Free Schools -- where he had been a Co-Director -- which is part of the David Lynch Foundation.

The NYPD has an active investigation into the allegations.

TMZ has learned ... the LAPD actually launched an investigation into allegations of molestation involving Stephen Collins in November, 2012 and then closed it ... and now we're told the department is "revisiting" the investigation after we posted our story ... to determine if they missed anything.

An LAPD official tells us ... they received the audiotape posted on TMZ Tuesday morning back in 2012 and conducted a formal investigation. We're told there was "no verified victim," insinuating the probe was triggered by a tip.

As TMZ reported ... one of the victims is a relative of a neighbor in the L.A. area. As you hear in the audio, Collins confesses that one of the victims is the niece of an L.A. neighbor.

The LAPD official tells us ... they are now collaborating with the New York PD and are "re-listening" to the tape to see if they "missed anything."

Stephen Collins has been booted off the upcoming "Ted 2" movie ... after TMZ broke the story that the actor admitted molesting and/or exposing himself to young girls.

Producers for the Seth MacFarlane sequel had hired Collins but production sources tell us he was almost immediately fired after TMZ posted the story.

TMZ has also learned ... Collins was the national co-director of The Committee for Stress-Free Schools, part of The David Lynch Foundation. A Foundation official tells us Collins contacted them 2 years ago and asked to be removed from his role for "personal reasons." When we called he was still on the website as the Co-Director. The website was immediately changed.