Kate Gosselin speaks out as Jon Gosselin is accused of physically abusing son Collin
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Jon Gosselin has been accused of physically abusing his son Collin, one of eight children the former reality star shares with ex-wife, Kate Gosselin. People confirms that the County of Berks, Pennsylvania Child & Youth Services (CYS) has notified Kate that an investigation has been launched after the 16-year-old alleged he was kicked and punched by his father.
“You do not punch and kick your children. You do not kick a child. I don’t want to hear any excuses from anyone, not from his father, not from local law enforcement, not from court personnel whose job is supposedly to ensure the best interests of my children,” Kate tells People. “There is a child abuse law, PA 23, section 8i states that doing any of the following, regardless of whether it causes injury, is child abuse, and first on that list is kicking. Period.”
The Kate Plus Date star adds, “I don’t want my children around him. Enough is enough.”
Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to reps for Jon and Kate, but did not hear back. CYS did not immediately respond to Yahoo’s request for comment.
According to the CYS report viewed by People, the allegation is of “causing bodily injury to a child through recent act/failure to act: hitting/punching.” Jon is not named; however, the claim is similar to one Collin made on social media last week.
“My dad is a liar. Yesterday he beat me up and thought nothing of it, he punched me in the face and gave me a swollen nose and I started bleeding. He then continued to kick me in the ribs after I was on the floor. He is a liar,” Collin wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post.
According to People, the violent altercation allegedly occurred after Collin became upset while talking to his father in the car.
“Collin got furious and was screaming and swearing. When they got home, he was still screaming and cursing and he went into the garage and got ... a big heavy bottle of liquid — and hurled it at Jon’s car, denting it,” the insider claims. “Jon got out of the car enraged, put him in a headlock, punched him square in the nose, and when Collin fell to the ground, then he kicked him in the ribs.”
Collin called the police, who responded on the scene. Berks County District Attorney John Adams tells People it’s unlikely Jon will face criminal charges.
“There has been no charges or citations filed as a result of that incident. That’s the only incident we are aware of at this point and there was no citation or charges filed as a result of the incident,” Adams said. Kate tells the magazine that makes her “sick to my stomach.”
“I do not want this buried, swept under the rug or minimized. As a mother, I am not going to sit quietly and idly by while my child, any of my children, is assaulted by anyone, let alone their own father,” she says. “I am spotlighting this, and I will keep shouting about it, in the hopes that the authorities and the courts will finally do the right thing. Do not return my child to an abuser’s home. Jon needs to be charged with a crime. If this were your child, would you feel okay with having it swept under the rug?”
Collin has a complicated history with his family, all of whom appeared on the wildly popular TLC show Jon & Kate Plus 8. Jon has publicly claimed Kate sent Collin, one of the couple’s sextuplets, to live at a special needs facility despite having no special needs diagnosis.
“Other than ADHD, which is extremely common, Collin has never been diagnosed with any known medical condition, there's nothing wrong with him,” Jon claimed to DailyMailTV in September 2019. “But Kate sent him away, she couldn't deal with him. He was alone for three and a half years with no parents, all locked up. It was inhumane.”
Jon spoke about Collin again in November during an interview on The Dr. Oz Show.
“The only way I knew where Collin was is Collin wrote a letter and his roommate smuggled it out,” Jon claimed. Collin chose to live with his father upon his release.
Jon and Kate split in 2009, which ultimately divided their family. Hannah and Collin have been living with Jon while the other four sextuplets— Aaden, Leah, Alexis, Joel — reside with Kate. Twins Madelyn and Cara, 19, lived with Kate prior to college and have had a strained relationship with their father.
A post shared by Jon Gosselin (@jongosselin1) on Aug 26, 2019 at 4:51am PDT
Jon told Dr. Oz Collin was “doing great” under his care; however, he said he had to “re-parent” his children.
“We all go to family therapy because I have to re-parent my kids because there is a lot of stuff that happened abuse-wise, mental and physical. Even though they're [then] 15, they might be like 12 mentally,” Jon said.
Kate is now hitting back at Jon’s abuse claims for the first time.
“I stayed silent for a long time as Jon has repeatedly tried to start world wars with vicious words, allegations of abuse that were always unfounded, but I never engaged — I never fought back for myself or to defend myself, because there were eight people who matter more to me,” she tells People. “But now that it involves one of my children, I will not stay silent anymore. Say whatever you want about me, and I’ll stay on the high road. But you harm my children, I’m ready to fight back.”
It’s unclear what has transpired since the alleged physical altercation. On Sunday, Collin shared a photo of his new haircut on Instagram, writing, “I’m doing better than ever.” He added, “Life is too great to not enjoy! #livelikeitsyourlastday.”
Kate tells People she finds Collin’s post troubling.
“I have always parented with my children’s best interests in mind. He parents to make himself look good. It is so sick it makes my blood boil,” she declares. “I am horrified that this man is the father of my children. I don’t want my children to be associated with someone who loses his mind because his car got dented.”
Jon has not publicly addressed the alleged incident.
