Former “7th Heaven” actor Stephen Collins and his ex-wife, Faye Grant, finalized their divorce on Friday.
Attorneys for the former couple worked for much of the week to hammer out a settlement, with at least some of the debate focused on a recording of a 2012 conversation in which the actor admitted to having sexual contact with underage girls.
Collins’ lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said earlier this week there were two main points he wanted resolved before he would consider accepting any final judgment, but he did not elaborate.
Kaplan said last week he wanted Collins, 67, to be awarded the original and any copies of the recording that Grant made during a 2012 therapy session, during which the actor acknowledged that he had sexual contact with underage girls. Grant’s lawyer, Kristina Royce, insisted her client was not responsible for the recording being made public.
According to the website TMZ.com, the settlement calls for all copies of the recording to be destroyed, while the original will be turned over to Collins attorney Shawn Holley, who will keep it under lock and key for 10 years, releasing it only if there is a subpoena. The rest of the settlement essentially calls for an even split of the couple’s assets, TMZ reported.
Collins has confessed to having sexual contact with three girls 20, 32 and 40 years ago.
“Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret,” he told People magazine last month. “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.”
The couple’s divorce case had been set to go to trial Feb. 9 if they had not reached a settlement.
