Stephen Collins Admits Wrongdoing Amid Sexual Abuse Reports

— -- Months after reports first surfaced that "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins had sexually abused minor children years ago, the actor admitted he "did something terribly wrong."

In a statement to People magazine, Collins, 67, addressed recordings released by TMZ on which he seemed to admit to encounters from 1973 to 1994 involving three minor females.

"Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret," Collins wrote. "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. This session was recorded without the therapist's or my knowledge or consent."

In the recording released in October, Collins confessed to molesting three girls. After the news broke, Collins was dropped from various projects, including the film "Ted 2," and he also resigned from SAG AFTRA.

"On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago," the actor said. "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.

"I have not had an impulse to act out in any such way" in two decades, Collins told People.

He added that he has vacillated over whether to contact the three women directly to apologize.

"I did have an opportunity to do so with one of the women, 15 years later. I apologized and she was extraordinarily gracious," Collins said. "But after 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."

People magazine said more excerpts from Collins' essay would be released Friday, when the magazine hits newsstands.

In court documents obtained by ABC in October, the actor's estranged wife, Faye Grant, called Collins a pedophile with a "long-term pattern of sexually abusing minor children."

She has since said through her attorney stating that she did not release the tapes to the media, but that they were handed over to authorities in 2012, when she and her estranged husband entered into divorce proceedings.

Up to this point, Collins' lawyer has neither confirmed nor denied the audiotape is of Collins.

Tune in to "20/20" on Friday at 10 p.m. ET for Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric's interview with Stephen Collins.