Details About Jon And Kate's 'Troubled' Son Collin Gosselin — Including Allegations Jon Physically Abused Him
Is Collin Gosselin being abused?
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America met the Gosselin family in 2007 when their first TV special called Surviving Sextuplets and Twins aired. The show (and its follow up special one year later) led to a reality show called Jon and Kate Plus 8.
The show was a success, but the Gosselin marriage wasn't, ending in divorce in 2009. TLC kept the series going for several more years under the name Kate Plus 8, while Jon Gosselin achieved tabloid notoriety for his antics. Kate and the kids took a TV hiatus for a few years but came back to TLC for several more seasons of Kate Plus 8 starting in 2014.
But by 2016, it wasn't really Kate Plus 8 anymore. One of the sextuplets, Collin, had moved away from the family to live in a residential facility to manage what Kate Gosselin called "special needs."
However, in May 2018, Jon Gosselin posted a rare photo of Collin during a visit for the boy's 14th birthday. The photo sparked questions, but not a lot of answers.
Almost two years later in February 2020, Gosselin dropped a bombshell about his ex-wife, claiming she was the one preventing their son from having any contact with his siblings. And the relationship between Kate and Collin continues to be rocky as, this Mother's Day, he chose to celebrate his father's girlfriend, Colleen Conrad, over his own mother.
Now, Jon is being accused of physically abusing his 16-year-old son Collin and Jon is denying the allegations.
Where is Collin Gosselin, why is he not at home, and what's going on with his relationship with Kate Gosselin?
Read on to find out more.
Collin Gosselin had always challenged his mother.
Raising 8 kids while divorced can't be an easy proposition, but Kate Gosselin seems to have had trouble with Collin from the time he was little.
In her book I Just Want You To Know, she wrote a letter to him talking about his attitude, saying, "As you have grown, however, I must say you have also challenged my authority greatly. At two and a half, you began testing and trying my parenting at every chance.
I called Daddy at work many days crying because you would not obey. As you have grown, this fact has not changed. You continue to be determined to do what you want to do, and I continue to try to rein you in."
The divorce hurt Collin Gosselin significantly.
Collin was only five when his parents divorced, and the changes were difficult for him.
In her letter to him, Kate acknowledges the difficulty he had with it, telling him, “I know the recent events in our family structure have greatly upset you, maybe you most of all. I want you to know that I have made and will continue to make decisions based on what I believe is best for you and your brothers and sisters. These changes, I realize, are still painful and hurt a lot.”
Collin Gosselin was expelled from school.
Collin and his sister, Alexis, were asked to leave their private school in 2010. Kate said at the time that it wasn't an expulsion, revealing, “The school would never use that word. [Collin and Alexis] were not expelled. [The school] did not feel like they could meet their needs anymore, so it was decided they should leave, for now.”
But other sources close to the family told a different story. A source said at the time that the two children had abused both adults and children, and even after intensive therapy with staff at the school, their behavior had not changed.
Jon and Kate Gosselin clashed over keeping the kids on TV.
It was well known that Jon Gosselin didn't like keeping the kids in the public eye. He objected to both the show and the paparazzi, who tracked them everywhere. After Collin and Alexis left their school, it was reported that Jon tried to get them together with other kids, but encountered problems with photographers.
The source said at the time, "They can’t just be tutored at home: these kids need to be integrated with other children. Jon and his [then]-girlfriend Ellen take them to public parks to play with other kids and they tell them to go and make friends because it’s clear they need to develop their social skills.”
Collin Gosselin has an unspecified diagnosis of special needs.
Kate revealed that Collin has special needs, though she didn't go into details. "[There's] a fairly fluid diagnosis of what those needs are, but he needs to learn certain strategies to help him deal with things," she said.
She went on to say that she didn't make this public or seek outside help, despite his issues affecting the whole family: "This has been a struggle we've had for a very long time, and it's one I've dealt with on my own. I've felt very alone in this. By the same token, it's not something that has only impacted me or him... our entire family has been impacted."
Collin Gosselin was mysteriously "sent away" in 2016.
Kate decided the chaos of being on a reality show was too much for Collin but didn't pull the plug on the show. Instead, she sent him to an unnamed facility where his needs could be addressed away from the cameras and the family.
A friend of the Gosselins said the change was good for Collin adding, "Now it seems that Collin is flourishing and he’s responding very well to one-on-one instruction. He definitely finds it easier to function and cope better without all the chaos that his home life entails.”
Kate Gosselin didn't clue her ex-husband in on the move, though.
While the change may have been good for Collin, it revealed yet another flaw in the parenting relationship between the Gosselins.
In 2016, it was reported that Jon wasn't in the loop on where Collin was going or what the program was for his son, saying, "I have an idea of where he is, but I don’t know exactly where he is... I mean, I ask but she [Kate] doesn't tell me. She doesn't answer any of my texts."
Jon Gosselin was there to celebrate his son's 14th birthday.
Gosselin must have finally answered her ex-husband's texts and filled him in on the whereabouts of his son, because Jon was there for Collin's 14th birthday on May 10, 2018. Jon and sister Hannah visited Collin, and all three of them looked happy in an Instagram post.
Hannah Gosselin also lives with her father.
As reported, Hannah Gosselin, another one of the sextuplets, also lives with Jon Gosselin — and according to reports, Kate fears her kids will ultimately "turn against her" or that her ex may lobby for another reality TV show, featuring himself, Hannah, and Colin.
“Everyone knows her relationship with Collin is fractured, but why is she not fighting to get Hannah back under the roof? That’s the big question. That’s Kate’s biggest fear — her kids turning against her. But by the looks of it, two already have, and who knows what Jon is planning,” a source said.
Jon finally revealed Colin has no contact with his other siblings, except Hannah.
Recently, Gosselin opened up about why two of his eight children with his ex-wife are living with him. He claimed that the kids who live with him and the kids who live with Kate have a "tumultuous" relationship with each other.
"Right now, it's very tumultuous, pretty much, because there's no contact between Collin and his other siblings. There's contact between Hannah and the other siblings. So, the problem right now is we have parent alienation and we have sibling alienation," he said.
He also opened up about the real reason why two of the kids are living with him, adding, "I've been going to court for 12 years, so it's not an easy battle. I had shared custody, I lost some kids, I had joint legal, I lost legal, I got legal back. When Hannah was 12 years old she wanted to live with me, so then I had to go get legal again, and then I got shared custody. And then, all of a sudden now, I got primary of her."
He then went on to talk about Collin: "I got sole custody of Collin. Kate has no contact with him, so there's a whole bunch of stuff that happened with him. So, I ended up with two, there could be more that come, so I have no idea. But, I mean, it's a long battle... I just didn't give up, I'm still not gonna give up."
Gosselin also revealed that both his and Kate's attorneys decided that custody would be up to the kids themselves:
"So, if they decide to go live with mom or they decide to live with dad, it's up to them. We do have a guardian ad litem, so it's like having a third parent, if there is a dispute between mom and dad, they can always call the guardian ad litem and she is a representative of the court and the judge, so she can make a better decision if there's a dispute between mom and dad."
Kate, however, hasn't yet commented on any of her ex-husband's recent claims.
Collin Gosselin is now enrolled in a military program.
Another one of Gosselin's recent revelations about his son is that he's joined an ROTC military program. Gosselin also revealed how happy he was for his son, saying, “Colin is in JROTC — so he stays pretty active.”
The JROTC is short for Junior Reserves Officers' Training Corps and is run by former military servicemen. It's not mandatory to join the military after attending JROTC, but does give those involved a leg up if they choose to do so.
Collin didn't acknowledge Kate on Mother's Day.
This past weekend, Collin celebrated Mother's Day — but he didn't celebrate Kate. Instead, he wrote a long Instagram post about his father's girlfriend, Colleen Conrad.
In the post, he said, "Turns out today is Mother's Day, today we pay our love forward to our mothers, but I don't think mother can describe all the things Colleen has done for me. Yes, a mother clothes her children and cooks for them but it's the best feeling when your mother or mother figure is one of your best friends and always has your back, the one who always shares that laugh of the humor only you guys get.
I could call it Mother's Day, but it's more than that, Colleen, you are so much more than a mother to me, you are one of my guidelines and one of my guiding lights. Thank you doesn't say enough, I love you so much and you've done so much for me that claims you my strong, happy, loving and awesome mother figure, you're irreplaceable. Thank you so much Colleen love you so much!!!"
Jon has been dating Conrad, who's a nurse, since 2014. Collin and the other sextuplets also recently celebrated their birthdays.
Collin Gosselin recently accused his father of physical abuse.
An investigation recently started that's looking into Collin's claims that his father is physically abusing him.
Collin claims, "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."
In response to the allegations, Kate — who is estranged from Collin — said, "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 interest of my children. I don't want my children around him. Enough is enough."
Kate seems to be hyper-focused on gaining justice for Collin. She said, "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."
Jon denies the allegations.
Jon's representative said, "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."
The Pennsylvania Child & Youth Services opened an investigation, but they did not list Jon as the alleged abuser in the case.
The District Attorney John Adams is assigned to the case and said, "There has been no charges or citations filed as a result of that incident."
As of right now, Jon has not been officially cited for allegedly assaulting his son.
Physical abuse of children and teens is common.
Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the United States each year.
On average, 3.5 million children's cases are investigated by child protective services, where 1.9 million children receive preventative services against physical abuse.
in 2018, 10% of all child abuse cases are associated with physical abuse.
There are ways to help child abuse victims.
If you want to help end child abuse, there are a few things you can do to make an impact. The organization Prevent Child Abuse America works hard every day to put a stop to child abuse. They are looking for people to donate time and money to their cause so they can continue helping those in need. You can also write to various elected officials to support good policies that effectively decrease the commonality of child abuse.
The best thing you can do is keep your eyes and ears open and know the signs of child abuse. When you hear something, report it when you see it — and always remember to take children seriously when they say they're being abused.
Rebekah Kuschmider is a DC area writer covering politics, celebrity, and parenting. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on May 15, 2018 and was updated with the latest information.