Unclear if Stephen Collins could be prosecuted for alleged abuse

TARZANA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The NYPD and the LAPD are investigating allegations that actor Stephen Collins admitted to acts of child sexual abuse.

A man who sounds like Collins, speaking to his estranged wife in a therapy session, sounds like he is confessing to child molestation in an audiotape released by TMZ.

It is unclear whether Collins can be criminally prosecuted for three specific cases reportedly tied to him.

The New York Police Department is investigating an alleged incident that could have happened over 40 years ago. Other alleged incidents, possibly in California, could have happened in the early 2000s.

If alleged victims come forward and have not hit their 26th birthday, the statute of limitations would allow for criminal prosecution. To file a civil suit, the threshold is lower. They would have to come forward within three years of realizing, perhaps through counseling, that they have been emotionally damaged by the molestation.

"LAPD may not know of the name of the victim, mainly because the victim hasn't come forward," said attorney Anthony De Marco, a child-molestation specialist. "Hopefully through the publicity that this is getting, those victims will realize 'I am not alone.' There are so many victims that when they realize they were not alone, it changes so much."

Collins' attorney told TMZ that Collins' estranged wife Faye Grant had been holding the recording over his head, trying to get more money in a divorce. Grant's attorney tells Eyewitness News that is untrue and defamatory. Grant says she turned over the tape to LAPD and NYPD only when Collins failed to get help.

In divorce documents filed by Grant, she plans to call the alleged victims to testify. It's uncertain though whether she knows their names to serve them with a subpoena.

Grant has issued a statement: "This is a deeply sad situation for everyone involved. With regard to the divorce proceedings, I am seeking no more than that to which I am legally entitled under the laws of the State of California. The recording of Mr. Collins' statements has not been part of family court proceedings or any negotiations related to that action at any time."

Grant says she has had no part in leaking the recording to the media.