Stephen Collins on Sexual Abuse Reports: 'I Didn't Choose This to Come Out'

— -- “7th Heaven” star Stephen Collins admitted to Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric in an exclusive sitdown interview that he had sexually abused three female children years ago, but claims his last transgression was in 1994 and he didn't want the allegations to be made public.

“I had put that stuff behind me,” Collins told Couric in an interview that will air on ABC News' "20/20" on Friday. “Most people get to, or have to or choose to hide it. This came out. I didn’t choose this to come out. I didn’t want to have to deal with these things publicly.”

Collins’ comments come after the 67-year-old actor broke his silence to People magazine about the allegations that arose two months ago following TMZ releasing audio recordings, where Collins admits on tape to sexual encounters from 1973 to 1994 involving three female minors.

“I had dealt 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 told Couric.

Collins, who is best known for his role as Pastor Camden, the family patriarch on the hit TV show, “7th Heaven,” referred to the Christian faith in talking about dealing with these incidents.

“I’m a flawed person,” Collins said. “And in the church, it’s actually one of the things I love about the church… it’s really one of the main things about the Christian faith, is you know, Christ said in so many ways, ‘bring me that … which about you is broken, bring it,’ and most people are broken in some way.”

Watch Katie Couric’s full interview with Stephen Collins on “20/20,” Friday at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.