7th Heaven pedophile calls himself 'flawed', invokes Jesus in new interview

Confessed pedophile Stephen Collins says he is "a flawed person" who found forgiveness in Jesus in his first interview since the actor's sexual misdeeds came to light.

Collins, who starred as a Christian pastor and father on long-running television show 7th Heaven, appeared flushed and his eyes red in the sit down with 20/20's Katie Couris as he openly discussed his "inappropriate sexual conduct" with three underage girls in the past.

"I had to put that stuff behind me … I didn't want to deal with these things publicly," he says in the interview to air Friday in the US.

"I had to deal with them very, very strongly and committedly in my private life, but I think I'm a human being with flaws and I've done everything to address it."

Collins says he does not feel he lived a "double life" while playing the righteous 7th Heaven lead and claims to have addressed his demons through faith.

"No, because first of all I had put that stuff behind me," he says.

"One of the things I love about the church ... Christ says in so many ways, 'Bring me that which about you is broken. Bring it.' And, most people are broken in some way."

Later in the interview, Collins details one incident in which he forced an underage girl who was staying at his house to touch him "inappropriately".

He says he "knew at that moment something unspeakably wrong had just happened" and his actions have "haunted" him ever since.

The interview follows a lengthy confession penned by Collins which appeared in People magazine on Wednesday about the girls he touched or exposed himself to between 1973 and 1994.

The 67-year-old was forced to make his confession after his soon-to-be ex-wife leaked a taped confession to TMZ in the midst of their bitter divorce in October.

None of his victims have ever publically come forward and Collins has never been charged.

Author: Chloe Ross, Approving editor: Emily McPherson
Source: 20/20, People, TMZ