"His Penis Was Hanging Out": Alleged Stephen Collins Victim Speaks
Months after a teary Stephen Collins went on 20/20 to tell Katie Couric that he's not a pedophile, one of his alleged victims has come forward, recounting in lengthy detail to the Daily Mail how the then 35-year-old 7th Heaven reverend exposed himself to her three times when she was 13-years-old.
April Price, 44, claims Collins exposed himself to her while she was visiting her aunt in Los Angeles in the summer of 1983. Collins lived in the apartment diagonal from Price's aunt's. An admitted fan, Price told the tabloid she eventually approached Collins for an autograph:
'Eventually I got the courage up to knock on his door to ask for his autograph and he was kind and said, "I don't have a photograph here, but I will get one and get it to you."
'The, one day I was in kitchen cooking breakfast and I look up and I see Mr Collins walking through the courtyard, right in front of my aunt's big bay window. He was completely naked. He had no clothes on whatsoever. He had a wad of clothes in his hands.'
'I was taken aback. That was strange. Wow. Who would do that? At the time, I didn't think it was necessarily sinister really, but I thought it was odd. It was not like he tried to cover up. He knew I was there while he was naked. He could see me there.'
Later on that summer, Price ran into Collins again, and explained to him how she couldn't figure out how to hook up her Atari to her aunt's TV. He offered to help and allegedly exposed himself to her again:
'I don't know at what point he did it, but when he turned around, his pants were completely unfastened. His penis was hanging out and I'm just shocked. He doesn't make any mention of it. He doesn't act any differently.'
'So I decided to play along and didn't say anything either. I just acted like it was not out, which was weird because it was hanging out of his pants.
"Honestly, I was 13 and hadn't even kissed a boy yet. This was not something I was even remotely prepared for in my life and I shut down," Price told the Daily Mail. "He was acting normal so I was determined to do the same."
Collins allegedly exposed himself to Price a third time that summer after inviting her into his apartment to look at photos and souvenirs the actor had collected from his past work:
'He says, "Do you mind if I get more comfortable?"
'I'm in his apartment. What am I going to say? So he goes back into his bedroom and he comes back out into the living room and he is completely naked. Totally naked. And my heart fell. This was terrifying.'
'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What am I going to do? It was really sad because at 13, we're taught to be respectful. We're taught to be honest and kind. I don't want to appear rude. I don't want to say, 'Oh my god, get your clothes on.'
Collins' penis "just feet" from her face, Price ran the second she saw her aunt from the window. The actor quickly got dressed and darted after her.
"So I never told her he was naked when I was in his apartment," Price told the Daily Mail. "She thought he was dressed in that shirt and briefs the whole time. But if you could see heat waves coming off of someone, that's what she looked like. She was livid."
More than 10 years later, Price was working a crafts services table for a commercial shoot when she ran into Collins, whom she claims apologized for exposing himself to her:
'He came up to the other side of the crafts service table. He was very intense. He said, 'I want you to understand what I did. I know it was extremely wrong. I really apologize for it, if I ever made you uncomfortable.'
'I don't remember how I responded. I just was saying to myself, 'Keep professional. I want to work in this business.
'I accepted his apology at the time. I was conflicted but being on the set and having this blow up, I wasn't sure what to do.
Price said she has since cooperated with the NYDP and LAPD's investigations into Collins' behavior, but both jurisdictions have admitted that the statute of limitations for charging the actor have passed.
"I just don't want his version, his truth, to be the one that everybody believes," she said. "It's not what really happened. He minimized it and cleaned it up."
[Image via Getty]