The Gosselin family is back in the spotlight for reasons that are pretty terrible: One of the children has reportedly accused Jon Gosselin of abuse. Berks County Child and Youth Services in Pennsylvania has notified Kate Gosselin of the allegations, and she's definitely angry.
The official report states that Jon is accused of "causing bodily injury to a child through recent act/failure to act: hitting/punching." Last week, the couple's son, Collin, posted on Instagram that his dad "beat" him.
Kate is furious and has released a statement of her own.
"You do not punch and kick your children," she said. "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. 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."
Kate also added, "I don't want my children around him. Enough is enough."
Collin's post on Instagram has been deleted, but the 16-year-old definitely levied some serious charges against his dad.
He wrote, "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."
A source went into more detail to People magazine about the alleged incident:
"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 source continued, "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."
The source added that Collin reportedly called the police, who responded.
Jon has not commented on the reported incident, but Berks County District Attorney John Adams released his own statement that indicates it's unlikely Jon will be charged. "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."
For her part, Kate is insistent that the allegations are spread far and wide.
"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 added, "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?"
Jon and Kate have had a tumultuous relationship since their 2009 divorce, and Collin moved in with Jon after spending two years living in a youth program. Jon and Kate's daughter Hannah also lives with Jon, but their other children (Cara, Madelyn, Alexis, Aaden, Joel, and Leah) live with their mother.
Kate has added that the police confirmed that Collin was removed from Jon's home, but she didn't get any other information: "The police advised me that they removed Collin from Jon's home immediately, and as far as I'm aware, he still is not back."
Jon has previously levied his own allegations of child abuse at Kate. She said that she did her best to ignore those allegations but is speaking out now: "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, Kate is ready to take Jon on:
"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."
