Former TV dad Stephen Collins has broken his silence regarding allegations of child molestation made public in October.

Collins' estranged wife, Faye Grant, secretly recorded his confessions during therapy sessions in 2012, and the audio was leaked to TMZ. Now, Collins is speaking out about the scandal.

"Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret," the former "7th Heaven" star admitted to PEOPLE. "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.

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

The 67-year-old said he has not "had an impulse to act out in any such way" since the last incident, and offered an apology to one of his victims.

"I did have an opportunity to [apologize to] one of the women, 15 years later," Collins explained.

"I apologized and she was extraordinarily gracious, 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."

Grant's recording is part of a bitter divorce trial in which Collins refuses to pay spousal support and filed a $1 million suit against his wife of nearly 30 years.

Collins said he has "lost all earning power" since the scandal broke.