Jon Gosselin is under investigation for allegedly abusing son Collin, according to ex-wife Kate Gosselin. Here's what we know.
UPDATE (9/10/2020, 6:30pm ET): After publishing this story, Jon’s rep provided the following statement to HollywoodLife: “Jon has never abused Collin. No charges have been filed against him and there’s no ongoing CYS investigation. Collin has endured severe trauma. Jon is a loving father who has worked hard to ensure that his son gets the support and help he needs.”
Kate Gosselin has confirmed to PEOPLE that her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, is under investigation for allegedly abusing their 16-year-old son, Collin Gosselin, who accused Jon of punching and kicking him in August 2020. According to the County of Berks, Pennsylvania Child & Youth Services, the allegation being investigated is “causing bodily injury to a child through recent act/failure to act: hitting/punching.” Jon is not named in the document, but the allegation matches Collin’s since-deleted claim on Instagram that his father “beat” him. HollywoodLife has reached out to Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin’s reps for comment, as well as PA police for confirmation.
His mother, Kate, named Jon in an interview with PEOPLE, however, telling the outlet, “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. The Kate Plus 8 star then cited a Pennsylvania law that categorizes kicking as child abuse. “I don’t want my children around him. Enough is enough,” she added.
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Collin had accused Jon of abuse in a since-deleted Instagram post. “My dad is a liar,” he wrote. “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.” No charges against Jon have been filed at this time. Kate told PEOPLE that she doesn’t want the alleged incident “swept under the rug.”
“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 said. “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?”
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This isn’t the first time that allegations of abuse have plagued the family. Collin has been living with Jon for nearly one year after the former Jon & Kate Plus 8 star accused his ex-wife of “mentally abusing” Collin and “giving him PTSD.” Prior to moving in with Jon, Collin spent two years living away from his family at a program for children with special needs. Jon also accused Kate of running a “military-esque regime” at home, which allegedly caused Collin’s sister Hannah, 16, to live with her father. Jon claims that Kate has banned Collin from seeing his siblings, who live with her.
Kate told PEOPLE in her interview that she will not “stay silent” about Collin. “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. 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.”
