Stephen Collins, who played the Rev. Camden on the erstwhile TV show 7th Heaven, has confessed to sexually abusing children a few decades ago.

Stephen Collins’ Confession

Collins penned an essay for the upcoming issue of People magazine to come clean about the reports that he molested and exposed himself to underaged girls,  as well as to put a stopper to additional speculation.

“Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since. I’ve decided to address these issues publicly because two months ago, various news organizations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential marriage therapy session in January, 2012,” Collins explained in the essay. “This session was recorded without the therapist’s or my knowledge or consent.”

“On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago,” Collins continued. “The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth.”

Since the instances of abuse, which took place between 1973 and 1994, Collins claims that he has not engaged in the reprehensible behavior again. “I have not had an impulse to act out in any such way” in the last 20 years, the actor says.

In the years that have passed since the abuses, Collins revealed that he apologized to one of the girls, now grown. However, he admits that he hasn’t spoken with either of the other two, for fear that the gesture would do more harm than good.

“I did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later. I apologized and she was extraordinarily gracious,” said Collins. “But after I learned in the course of my treatment that my being direct about such matters could actually make things worse for them by opening old wounds, I have not approached the other two women, one of whom is now in her 50s and the other in her 30s.”

Collins’ full statement will appear in the issue of People that will hit newsstands Friday.

Collins will also be sitting down for an interview with Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric, which will stream on Yahoo! and air Friday on 20/20 on ABC.