Stephen Collins: ‘I’m Absolutely Not’ a Pedophile

Just days after publicly confessing that he sexually abused three underage girls decades ago, Stephen Collins has sat down for an in-depth interview with Katie Couric -- in which he claims he is not a pedophile.

"I do not fit the clinical or dictionary definition of it," the former '7th Heaven' actor explains. "A pedophile is someone who is mostly or wholly attracted to children. I'm not. I had a distortion in my thinking where I acted out in those ways. But I am absolutely not -- physically or sexually -- attracted to children."

Collins goes on to explain that his therapist told him if he were, he would've committed more sexual abuse of children than he had.

"I was not looking… I don't look at young women that way. I don't and I never did," he said, shaking his head. "That may sound incongruous with those actions, but those actions I think had more to do with that distortion of my thinking and need for attention."

He refers to one incident in 1973: "When the physical contact took place, that ended it … that stopped it. It was the opposite of excitement or gratification."

But it didn't stop it, as Collins went on to abuse two more young women in incidents that occurred between 1973 and 1994 -- one of whom has spoken out to slam the actor.

"Stephen is minimizing the incident. It was not just a spontaneous touching ... that aggression resulted in him ejaculating," she told TMZ. She goes on to state her belief that there are more victims than just herself and the two other women.

"I think I'm someone who gave in several times to exhibitionistic urges, someone who had real big boundary issues and as a young man … and beyond that to extent," Collins tells Couric.