Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of child abuse and other disturbing details.
In a new interview with The Sun, Collin Gosselin recalled the emotional and physical abuse he allegedly suffered as a child at the hands of his mom Kate Gosselin, including allegedly being zip-tied and locked in a basement when he was around eight or nine years old.
“My mother had a room built in our unfinished section of the storage basement,” Collin recalled. “She had a room put up with cameras in it, a tiny window in the corner and it was bolt-locked from the outside. So this, it was like a containment room, literally, and it had a mattress on the floor and that’s how I lived.
“And I was there … most of the day because I didn’t go to school after a certain point,” he continued. “So most of the day I was in that room and I was away from my siblings and I never went outside. I never played with them. I was kept there. It was literally containment.”
As The Ashley previously told you, Collin was placed in a mental health institution by his mom for nearly two years beginning in 2016. Kate has claimed in the past that Collin was placed in the facility for behavioral issues and because he had “special needs”; however, both Collin and his dad, Jon Gosselin, have denied for years that Collin has “special needs.”
Jon gained custody of Collin in 2018 after Kate failed to attend the court hearing to fight her ex-husband for custody. (Jon also obtained custody of daughter Hannah Gosselin around this time, while the other six Gosselin kids remained in Kate’s custody.)
Collin has been estranged from his mom for a number of years and has previously criticized his mom for placing him in the mental health facility as a child– a decision Collin revealed last month had resulted in him being “discharged” from the Marines.
In his interview with The Sun this week, the 20-year-old former Jon and Kate Plus 8 star recalled the ways in which his mom treated him differently than his seven siblings.
Collin claims he was removed from school in fourth grade after reporting Kate’s alleged abuse to teachers, at which point he was homeschooled and diagnosed with “multiple mental health issues” as an outpatient. Collin also said he told the TLC camera crew– among other people– what was happening at home, but he claims Kate “did a good job of hiding those things.”
Last year, Hannah confirmed during an interview for VICE TV‘s Dark Side of the 2000s that Kate did treat Collin differently than the other Gosselin kids.
“He would be separated from us,” Hannah said. “Like, he would not get to come and play outside with us. He would eat dinner at different times than us.”
Collin also alleged that, at time, Kate’s abuse would often include physically restraining him with zip-ties.
“ … When my mother would put me in that room multiple times, she had zip-tied my hands and feet together and bolt locked the door, turned the lights off and had cameras there just watching me,” he claimed, adding that Kate was also verbally abusive. “And obviously that carries over to the emotional side of things where a young child doesn’t know any better, so it was a very, very emotionally abusive relationship.”
According to medical records submitted as part of Jon and Kate’s custody battle, Collin reported the alleged abuse to his counselor at the time. Meanwhile, Jon claims he did not learn about the alleged abuse until “way afterwards,” noting it took place after he and Kate split.
“I didn’t hear about that until Hannah told me about it, once I got custody of Hannah,” he said. “I think once Hannah knew she was safe and not going back to her mom’s she felt she could tell me.
“At that point, Collin was institutionalized,” he continued. “He also started opening up to the doctor there and then because I became the legal parent, then they started telling me what he was telling the therapist and stuff. And it all matched up with what Hannah said.”
While Jon said he received “several letters” from the Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Young and Families in Pennsylvania notifying him of reports of abuse against Collin, the claims were “unfounded”– nine separate times, he said– leaving Jon feeling “powerless.”
“They would say ‘someone reported that Collin’s being abused and we found it unfounded,’” Jon recalled. “Look at those letters and look at all those ‘unfoundeds.’ It’s such a f**king crock of s**t.”
While Kate has stated that Collin was institutionalized due to his behavioral issues and “special needs,” Collin believes he was placed in the facility to prevent anyone from finding out that Kate was abusing him.
“It got to the point where word was getting out and child services were being called,” he said. “And I just think that me being at home in the house, there was just too many ways that my mother could have been exploited. And in her desperate attempt to protect herself, she placed me in this institution … .”
While Collin said he was “terrified” after being sent to the institution, he admits it was a better situation than the one he was dealing with at home.
“I had always felt alone at home, so this sounds wrong, but in a way it was nice to be away from home,” he said. “ … It was not as bad as home … you know, not as bad as … how my mother was towards me.”
Collin remained in the facility until he was able to contact Jon via letter and plead with his dad to rescue him. (Jon has claimed that Kate refused to tell him where she placed Collin.) Collin discussed the contents of that crayon-written letter this week.
“I remember saying [in the letter] that ‘I’m not trying to trick you,’ because I remember thinking that nobody believed me as a kid,” he said. “My mom always told me nobody would believe me.”
As for the basement room Collin said Kate often “contained” him in as a child, Jon said the family who went on to purchase the home later asked him about the room, as it was still there when the house was sold.
“My friends’ in-laws bought our house and one time they asked me, ‘Why is there a room in the basement with a bed and a lock on the outside?’” Jon said. “It must have been terrifying for [Collin].”
Kate and the other Gosselin kids have not responded publicly to Collin and Jon’s latest claims.
RELATED STORY: Collin Gosselin Claims He Was Discharged From the Marines Due to Estranged Mom Kate Gosselin Placing Him in an Institution as a Teen
(Photos: TLC; VICE; Instagram)
30 Responses
She should be arrested for these horrible things she did to a helpless child.
This is a big story, why does he have to go to the Sun with it?
And to think she almost had another show on TV but now won’t bc of these accusations.
I hope the look for ways to hold CPS/DFACS etc accountable for their multiple NONACTION!
Don’t worry Kate! Most of your children will write a tell-all amd probably never speak to you again!
If my daughter tells me that my ex is imprisioning my children int the basement, im going STRAIGHT to the police. Not DHS or DCFS. I will be following behind them as they go to the house. The children were being ACTIVELY abused and Jon knew about it. Tied up in the basement and locked in a room with just a mattress. I would not have rested until Kate was in jail where she belonged. Jon failed these kids too.
But it sounds like Jon didn’t know until after they had moved out and he had custody. But to be fair Jon went off the deep end after the divorce so I can see that maybe he wasn’t paying as close of attention as he should have been.
hannah was a minor when Jon got custody. Meaning the 5 remaining kids were still in the home. If one is abused, whats to say the others werent gettin abused too? Why take that chance. The room in the basement was still set up YEARS later according to Jon.
You do realize she didn’t tell him these things right away once he got custody, right? It still took a very long time before he was even aware of all the things that went on. You act like he knew all along, or that she (or anyone) told him right away. It wasn’t until long after he had custody of them that he found out most of it. Authorities, DCFS, family court, none of them ever sent any of this information to him, again, until YEARS later.
I think you misunderstood the article. Jon didn’t know until he had custody of Hannah, and when Collin was in the institution. That was many years after he left the home.
he got hannah when she was still a minor. Meaning there were still MINORS in the house. If one is being actively abused, the others could be too. so no i didnt misunderstand.
How can he fail the kids if he doesn’t know until YEARS after that abuse stopped. The physical abuse, the mental abuse and the verbal abuse was almost entirely against Collin, not the other children. Although they too were neglected, they were not all abused in the same manner. Multiple reports were filed, which he also didn’t see until years after the fact. Multiple times when people in authority dismissed Collin and the abuse, but never even bothered going to Jon with the reports. Jon didn’t find out about any of the abuse until long after she could no longer abuse Collin, because he was in an institution. That’s not a failure on his part, it absolutely IS a failure on the system’s part, DCFS, CPS and family courts that all dismissed the claims (which were TRUE) being made by a child and mandated reporters. All of those people, including the institution itself, failed Collin. Going to the police would have resulted in absolutely nothing at all happening, because it was years after the fact, not an active thing still going on. They can’t be of any help in that situation, as there is nothing for them to do.
Jon has his own shortcomings, and plenty of them, but he never failed those children, any of them. He always made sure even if he wasn’t physically in their lives, that they had everything else they needed. The fact that Kate stopped that (by stealing from them, using it all for her own benefit, etc..) isn’t a failure on his part either. He was most definitely not a fantastic parent, by a long shot, but he was far, far better than her-and had been their entire lives (beginning with the twins, I might add). Kate is and has always been a horrendous monster, and an absolutely terrible parent, from day one. She SHOULD be behind bars, but the system we have sucks donkey nuts and always has. Look at how many times people reported the abuse against Collin, just for it to go ignored, that is a failure from top to bottom and it has nothing to do with Jon.
I have way too much experience with abusive POS people (who pretend they’re parents), though. I’ve seen how these things often play out, how much goes ignored, unanswered, how long it can take for any sort of real action to take place. It’s not as simple as some people believe, or tv might have you think. There is no “I’m going to the police and goin with them right now”. Yeah, nothing works the way you think it does, trust me on that one. You can say what you think you’d do, what you’d want to do, what you want to happen, all you want, and I guarantee you it will not go that way, pretty much ever. A child could be nearly killed, or, worse still, actually killed, and the system will still fail them. I have seen it, my children have experienced it, there are no superhero moments in cases like this, sadly. There are no “I’m going to save the day by getting those kids out of there” moments, either. But no one wants to hear that part, of course.
he found out when Hannah was a minor and coming to live with him. Meaning 5 other kids were still minors living there with a woman that was zip tying kids. I wouldnt take chances that shes not going to abuse the rest.
Yes he found out long after she came to live with him, not right away. She was still scared, and scarred, by the trauma Kate foisted on them all, and it heavily affected her own actions, the things she told Jon, the things she revealed. This is perfectly normal behavior on her part, considering all that Kate did. She did nothing wrong by not telling him earlier, other people should have told him earlier so that more could have been done sooner.
By the time Jon was told of everything, or even more of it besides “mom is mean to Collin”, it was long after Collin and Hannah were safe and sound in his care (and the rest of the kids that Kate didn’t hate as much weren’t being abused-which was explored during Collin’s cases, btw). Jon didn’t know about all of the abuse, or even more than “mom put Collin in an institution” and “mom is mean sometimes”. Had more of that information been available to him years before it actually was, none of those kids would have stayed with Kate (though only because they are considered “famous” and would be more scrutinized during a proper investigation). The sad reality here is that the people that are *obligated* to ensure the other parent has this kind of information, absolutely failed at their jobs.
was the room still not set up when the home was sold? Would you take that chance that she only abused one minor child and not the other ones? NO. Hannah was what 15 when she went to live with Jon? meaning the other 5 kids were also that age and living with the mom. I also have lots of experience in this. When one kid is gone, a lot of times the abusive parent moves on to another kid. And even if they dont, why take that chance with your kid? People need to stop defending Kate AND Jon.
actually just looked it up. Hannah went to him in 2016! the rest of the kids would have been 12/13 years old. If the room was still there when the house was sold in 2021, Jon had plenty of time to do something about it. idc what anyone says.
and if it was so obvious to viewers years ago when her and jon were still together that she was awful to Colin, Jon failed him then too. He was privvy to THAT abuse. Instead he just went off and started partying. so yes he FAILED the Kids. and Kate is a monster.
Shocking, said no one ever.
I don’t understand why the other kids are silent. No amount of money or whatever justifies supporting her at this point.
They’ve been abused into silence
Yup that’s what abusers do and it probably won favor in her eyes if they were mean to him too. Narcissists love a scapegoat and golden child!
Kate has spent many years brainwashing these kids. The twins are especially awful, parroting back whatever Kate has told them to say.
Mady reminds me of Jessa Duggar in that they were both at one time the feistiest but now they are the most vocal supporters of Kate/Jim Bob.
Trauma
That one little word, which means far more than its definition describes, covers it all. Trauma has all sorts of effects, most of which no one will ever fully understand. It manifests in ways you expect, and a lot more ways you’d never expect. It’s an all encompassing word, that might have a definition, but has way, way more meanings.
It’s easy to say what we think they should do, what we think we’d do, what we think our kids might do. It’s easy to judge that from the outside and assume the answers are clear. From the inside there is no clarity, and no room for judgments on what’s right, wrong, or indifferent.
It has nothing at all to do with money and breaking it down to that alone, does a huge disservice to the trauma they’ve all likely experienced even if the abuse wasn’t directed to them. There’s a level of responsibility they likely feel as well, despite none of it being their fault. It’s no one’s place to tell them what they should or shouldn’t have done, though. That’s just foisting more trauma onto them.
This is so sad. Kate was HORRIBLE to both John and her kids during the show. I can remember her losing it and screaming at one of her kids because they got gum on their sock. He didn’t get gum in Kate’s house because she was screaming “THIS IS WHY I DON’T GIVE GUM TO LITTLE KIDS!” Then she shrieks at John “CALL THEM AND TELL THEM THIS IS WHY I SAID NO GUM!” That pissed me off. Guess what? Kids make messes. That’s what they do. He didn’t purposely put gum on his sock and BTW it’s a SOCK! I think it was her brother & his wife who went on TV after this and discussed Kate’s abuse of the children and saying that is why they will no longer be filming for the show.
There was a picture in the press of her hitting Hannah in the driveway. The kids always looked terrified. I can’t think of one time that they were genuinely happy. My problem with John is his complete lack of action. He knew Kate was abusive. That’s why he left! But he left his kids with their abuser. To find out that he got 9 reports that Colin was in danger has me furious! I don’t give a shit whether CPS found the allegations “unfounded”. again he KNEW who Kate was! Then the whole “Kate wouldn’t tell me where Colin was” sounds like an excuse. I’m sure she didn’t. But I would have been relentless in my pursuit of finding where my child was. They were in the public eye. He could have went to every news outlet locally and nationally until someone somewhere took action!
Not defending Jon for his lack of action but if Kate had full custody of the kids and it sounds like she did because she was able to send Colin away without Jon even knowing, then it’s not surprising Jon couldn’t find where he was. Unless he was the legal parent or guardian, places can’t just give away information about minors in their care. So theoretically Jon could’ve contacted this place every day for 2 years but legally he couldn’t find out where Colin was until Colin himself shared that with him.
Not saying it’s right. But I’m not surprised.
Jon didn’t get the reports until years after he left. It was when he had custody of Hannah, and when Collin was institutionalized. And he got all 9 at once, after he inquired about them because of what Hannah told him.
there were still minors in the house. Hannah was a minor. therefore the other five were. And the chances of them being abused too is not one i would want to take. I would have taken hannah to the police station to give a statement. she was inprisioning this child. in a locked basement. with zip ties. They would have investigated. and if they wouldnt have i wouldnt have stopped until i knew my other 5 children were safe.
Do you really not understand that Hannah did not tell him, or anyone, about everything Kate had done until long after the fact? Do you also really not understand that MULTIPLE REPORTS OF ABUSE were filed against Kate, and NOT investigated but ruled as “unfounded”. They did NOT investigate, which is something that happens way more often than people know.’
Long story time (and trigger warning, abuse mentioned below)…
I will preface this for anyone who does not already know…I am an adoptive and foster parent, none of my children are my biological children. Most of the kids that have been brought into our family come from very bad situations. I will tell you about one of them, but know that the processes involved in neglect and abuse cases, regardless of severity, are a lot more alike than they are different. Things are not handled at all like they should be, like we want them to be. NONE of it works that way, ever, anywhere in the US or even the rest of the world for that matter.
One of my children was beaten, for years, multiple times requiring hospitalization, including weeks spent in PICU, a few different hospitals, and lifelong injuries to body, mind and soul. Despite multiple reports being made by teachers and a daycare worker, very little was ever done. A few well-checks at home, a few phone calls, a few interviews for the biological parent, a few promises made by said person to get better and do better, and the cycle continued…
Eventually they finally did something right, and the child was placed with us, because we have experience with some of the difficulties that comes when a child is severely neglected and/or abused. This child lived with us for 9 months, constant court appearances, constant meetings with all sorts of people, you name it, we went through it. 9 months, almost to the day, this child was returned to the biological parent who was, and I quote “doing better”. Said parent had only been recently released from their latest stint in jail (unrelated to the abuse) two months prior, but apparently passed all “checks”.
I did not go into that meeting lightly, I was prepared, every record, every appearance, every text, email, word uttered, all evidence of abuse, literally a 4+ inch file. The child was finally starting to open up, starting to smile, enjoying life in the few moments a day where peace and serenity weren’t shrouded in trauma. Yet, the child was returned, against ALL expert advice to the contrary. Want to take a guess at how long it took before I got a phone call at 3am to get up to the hospital immediately? Three weeks, it took three weeks for this child’s life to nearly get wiped out by the very person already declared multiple times to be unfit. The child was in a medically induced coma, torn retina, orbital fracture, fractured jaw, broken collar bone, spiral fracture in the right arm and a fracture on the growth plate of the same arm, broken ankle, bruised ribs, two fractured fingers, bruises all up and down the body, and had been brought in completely unconscious. It took 6 weeks in the PICU, another 4 in a step down before the child could come home. The physical damage that remains now, years after the fact, is worrisome and extensive. That doesn’t include psychological damage which is immeasurable.
The abuse is, sadly, not the worst part of that story, the worst part is that it took us almost three years after the last incident, to get a termination of parental rights.
THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN STOP PRETENDING IT’S NOT!!!! What you think you’d do in the situation, is correct, it’s what we’d all do-we’d report it, we’d stand up, we’d do something. But assuming that things are always handled as they should be, is asinine, because they are almost always not properly handled. We knew about the abuse to our child, people knew what was going on, reports were made, police were informed, judges knew, DCFS knew, everyone knew. That’s why the child was placed with us originally, it was all knowledge people had before returning the child to a heinous monster. But nothing was really done, and a child nearly died, multiple times, because nothing was done.
In this case, Jon didn’t actually know. Hannah did not tell him, NO ONE told him. So even less would, or could, have been done in this case, than it was in ours. Even when all the stars are aligned, and evidence is clear, people know what’s going on, things go unanswered, completely ignored even.
You’re assuming he knew when literally all evidence, including Kate’s (along with Hannah and Collin) own damn words, tell us that he DID NOT KNOW. There was nothing to report, no statement to give, nothing to get anyone listening, nothing to investigate. By the time he did know, nothing was done, nor could it be. This is what a broken system causes, aside from all of the children harmed, it also gives uninformed people a wrong impression on how things work (because we all wish they worked better/different).
Is there a way Kate can be held responsible for any of this? Is there a statute of limitations?
How horrible for any child to have to live through this!