Woman Who Was Molested By Stephen Collins Doesn’t Accept His Apology, So Why Should We?
Last night, actor Stephen Collins sat down with Katie Couric with very red-rimmed eyes while wearing one of Mr. Rogers’ sweaters and tried to convince us that while he admits to being a child molester, he’s not a child molester. Or something along those lines. Whatever the interview was meant to be vs. what it actually was (too little, too late), well, either way it was hard to stomach. And if it was difficult for me to watch Stephen pull out his best acting chops and try to convince us that he’s a victim too (which may very well be true, based on him placing blame on a woman who “repeatedly exposed herself” to him while growing up, that wasn’t the time or place for finger-pointing), I can only imagine how difficult it was for his victims to watch.
One of the little girls Stephen molested, a woman now in her 50s, claims that Stephen was lying about an incident where he admits placing her hand on his genital area for “a minute or less” and did not feel any “gratification.”
“Stephen is minimizing the incident. It was not just a spontaneous touching … that aggression resulted in him ejaculating.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to believe a woman who has zero things to gain by saying this publicly (she’s also not releasing her name) vs. an actor who has copped to predator-like behavior (news flash, Stephen, it’s because you’re a predator). She’s had to live with the trauma of his abuse for decades now. If she doesn’t feel inclined to forgive him, I certainly don’t. The victim, like many of us, doesn’t believe there are only three victims. Though we’ll probably never know how many there are for sure, it’s certainly a disturbing possibility to consider.
Stephen says he has apologized to one of his victims but not to the other two, based on the counsel of his therapist, for fear that he would “open up old wounds.” Well, this woman (who has not received an apology) thinks he can take his non-apology and shove it. (My words, not hers.)
“Why isn’t he donating any disposable income, beyond what he needs to survive, to a child-abuse charity?”
Great idea. I don’t know who his publicity team is (or his therapist, for that matter), or if he even has one, but that interview and accompanying People magazine essay was probably not the best way to handle this. Shut up, put your money where your mouth is instead, and then go away.
(Photo: Yahoo)
