'No One to Blame But Himself': '7th Heaven' Pastor Dad Stephen Collins Living in Obscurity After Child Molestation Scandal

Disgraced 7th Heaven star Stephen Collins has remained out of the limelight ever since a recording of him confessing to child molestation was released nearly a decade ago.

RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned the former actor, 75, accepted a new way of life after leaving behind his cherished days on-set. Collins escaped criminal charges due to statute of limitations, but his career in Hollywood was over in the wake of the scandal.

He now resides in Fairfield, Iowa with his third wife, engaging in transcendental meditation to find peace.

"Stephen lives in a modest home in Iowa, and with his earnings from his Hollywood heyday, he can live out his years comfortably," a source dished.

It was back in 2014 when a bombshell audiotape from a 2012 therapy session with then-wife actress Faye Grant revealed a shocking secret he'd been keeping. Collins confessed to exposing himself to an 11-year-old relative of his first wife, Marjorie Weinman. "There was one moment of touching where her hand, I put her hand on my penis," he admitted.

Collins later told PEOPLE there were a total of three victims from 1973 to 1994, stating that he "did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret."

Collins said he apologized to one of the women 15 years after the incident, revealing 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," he added.

Now that he's spending his days in obscurity, insiders said that he has come to terms with the shame and guilt of his past.

Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.

"Practicing TM has helped put his head right to deal with his horrific behavior, even though he knows he can never make it up to the women he hurt as young girls."

The source claimed, "He misses being an actor, but he knows no one is going to welcome him back to Hollywood — and he has no one to blame but himself."