Ann Oldenburg

USA TODAY

The fallout continues for Stephen Collins, whom we all knew as the solid, sweet minister dad on 7th Heaven.

But that, of course, was just a TV role.

Fans are seeing him in a new light after TMZ obtained a sad and shocking audio tape featuring Collins, 67, discussing three instances of child molestation.

It's part of a nasty divorce Collins has been going through with actress Faye Grant. When he filed papers in 2012 after 27 years of marriage, she said she was "devastated."

On the tape, Collins is heard talking to Grant and to a therapist about exposing himself to underage girls. One was 11 when he started, and Collins says it continued when she was "12 and 13." That particular girl is thought to be a relative of his first wife, Marjorie Weinman.

"There was never any conversation. ... There one moment of touching," he says, "where her hand, I put her hand on my penis."

TMZ says Collins never knew he was being taped. Grant did it to gather evidence for a possible felony, and molesting a child under the age of 14 qualifies.

But Grant, on Tuesday, reacted with surprise as well. "I woke up today to learn that an extremely private recording I handed over to the authorities in 2012 per their request in connection with a criminal investigation was recently disseminated to the press," she told E! News, denying any involvement with the release of the tape.

The Associated Press reports that New York police have an open investigation into allegations that veteran TV actor Stephen Collins molested a teenage girl in the early 1970s. Police spokesman Stephen David says the complaint was filed in 2012 accusing Collins of forcing a then-14-year-old girl to commit a lewd act in 1972. David says the case remains open, but no charges have been filed.

In the divorce documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Grant said Collins has employed a 12-step model for sex addiction and saw a 'sexual dysfunction' therapist, but refused hospitalization.

"I believe that Stephen used his celebrity status to engender the trust of the families of the children he molested," Grant's declaration claims. "I further believe that there have been other victims, but he has thus far only confessed to those three girls."

The fallout continued on Tuesday. Entertainment Weekly reports that Collins has been fired from a small role in Ted 2. And TMZ says Collins resigned his position on the National Board of the Screen Actors Guild.

Even reruns of 7th Heaven have taken a hit. Variety reports that UP TV has dropped the show from its schedule, replacing the series with episodes of Supernanny.

Between 1996 and 2007, Collins starred on the popular CW family drama He shared the screen with seven children, including a teenage Jessica Biel.

He has not commented.