The Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau was investigating allegations against “7th Heaven” star Stephen Collins made by a woman who said she was 13 at the time of the incident, the department confirmed Wednesday.
Allegations of indecent exposure and annoying or molesting a child involved incidents that occurred in West Hollywood in 1983, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department news release.
Stephens is the subject of a continuing investigation being conducted by police in New York City related to incidents described in a secretly recorded conversation the actor had with his therapist and his wife.
In the recording, Stephens allegedly said he exposed himself to several girls between the ages of 11 and 13, and put one girl’s hand on his genitals.
After the recording was released by TMZ.com Oct. 7, Stephens was fired from a movie on which he was working and left his position on the SAG-AFTRA board. A “family-friendly” cable channel also moved to discontinued showing reruns of “7th Heaven,” which originally aired on The WB and CW from 1997 to 2006.
The new allegations against Collins, 67, were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department on Oct. 9 and then forwarded to the Sheriff’s Department, according to Wednesday’s news release.
The alleged victim said she was visiting from out of state when the incident occurred while she was staying with a relative who lived in the same complex as Collins, sheriff’s Lt. Steven Katz said. The building is in the 1400 block of Havenhurst Drive in West Hollywood, Katz said.
Collins lived in that block in 1983 and 1984, according to public records.
The woman indicated she came forward after hearing about the story about the recording that was published by TMZ, Katz said.
“The victim recognized some similarities from that story and called the Los Angeles Police Department and reported an incident that had occurred,” Katz said. “The person who came forward felt that what she heard involved her.”
No touching occurred, according to the woman’s account, Katz said.
Investigators were working to interview the woman, who does not live in California, the lieutenant said.
Details about the alleged incident were not being released during the investigation, which did not include any other victims, Katz said.
The statute of limitations does not preclude an investigation in the incident, but it will be up to county prosecutors to determine if charges can be filed, Katz said.
Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau detectives were working with the NYPD.
The Sheriff’s Department investigation was first reported Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
In 2012, the LAPD looked into allegations against Collins but investigators were not able to identify a victim, a department spokesman said last week. The alleged victim was a relative of Collins who lived in California, and she would not respond to police inquiries, the Times reported, citing an LAPD captain.
A spokesman said last week that LAPD investigators were re-examining the case.
The allegations have surfaced amid an acrimonious divorce battle between Collins and his wife, actress Faye Grant, who has said she did not release the recording.
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