Confessed ... Stephen Collins has admitted to abusing three underage women, and says he’s been in therapy for 20 years to deal with his inappropriate impulses. Picture: Getty Source: AP

In a 1000-word essay in People magazine, Collins says “I did something terribly wrong”, but says he has not abused anyone in decades and never acted inappropriately on the set of 7th Heaven.

The actor, who played a wholesome pastor dad on the family-friendly TV show, was caught apparently confessing to the sexual abuse of minors in leaked recordings from his divorce proceedings.

“Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret,” writes Collins, adding that he has been in therapy for 20 years.

Collins admits he twice exposed himself to a pre-teen girl in 1973, when he was 25, and then abused her later at home.

“When the girl and I were watching TV alone, I moved her hand in such a way that caused her to touch me inappropriately,” writes Collins.

“It was a completely impulsive act and it’s haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through.”

Wholesome ... Collins with the cast of "7th Heaven". Picture: Supplied Source: News Limited

He also admits that he exposed himself to two teenage girls in 1982 and in 1994.

“I have been working to atone for it ever since. I’ve decided to address these issues publicly because two months ago, various news organisations published a recording made by my then-wife, Faye Grant, during a confidential marriage therapy session in January, 2012. This session was recorded without the therapists or my knowledge or consent,” he wrote, referring to recordings that first surfaced on TMZ.

“I appeared for eleven seasons on a television series with a cast that included minor females in our TV family, and countless other young actresses throughout the show’s eleven years,” he wrote.

“I never behaved in appropriately on or off that set — or on any set I’ve ever worked on.”

Collins has personally apologised to one of the victims 15 years after the abuse, who he says was “extraordinarily gracious”.

However, he had not apologised to the two other victims after his therapist told him may just add to their trauma.

“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.”

The actor, who has been dropped from a number of acting gigs after the shocking revelations surfaced, said he is speaking out in order to end speculation about what actually happened.

“On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32 and 40 years ago. 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.”