The cast of 7th Heaven condemns Stephen Collins' sexual abuse in a podcast

The A heavenly family The cast tackles difficult topics head-on while diving into their '90s family drama series.

When stars Beverley Mitchell, David Gallagher and Mackenzie Rosman launched their rewatch podcast Catching up with the Camdens This week, they prefaced the pilot episode with a disclaimer regarding her TV father Stephen Collins' 2014 confession to sexually abusing three minors.

“Before we get started on this episode, we want to let you know that we see all of your comments and we know how much you're looking forward to the rerun, so that's exactly what we're going to do,” Mitchell said. “But before we get into that, we think it's important to say something about Stephen Collins.”

Gallagher added: “Any form of abuse, sexual abuse of any kind, is inexcusable. And victims of abuse must be shown compassion and should receive support.”

Rosman continued, “When we rewatch these episodes, it's impossible not to talk about Stephen because he was such a big part of the show and our lives. But we want to make it clear that we did not have any inappropriate experiences with Stephen.”

“Stephen will not be participating in this podcast and we do not excuse or condone his behavior,” Mitchell assured listeners. “We hope that with this podcast we can reconnect with you, our fans, rekindle some nostalgia from the 90s and relive our fondest memories of A heavenly family.”

Gallagher concluded, “We know this is difficult and we understand it can be triggering, but we just want to say that we love you and are so grateful for all the love and support that you, our community, have shown us. So, hopefully you'll stick with us as we continue this journey.”

In October 2014, TMZ released an audio recording in which Collins apparently confessed to sexual conduct with several minors. In December of that year, he made a statement to People that he sexually abused three underage girls, although no charges were ever brought against him.

A heavenly family ran for eleven seasons from 1996 to 2007 on The WB and The CW and followed Reverend Eric Camden (Collins), his wife Annie (Catherine Hicks) and their children Matt (Barry Watson), Mary (Jessica Biel), Lucy (Mitchell), Simon (Gallagher) and Ruthie (Rosman).