Wat-Not Staff
The son of reality TV celebrities Jon and Kate Gosselin, Collin Gosselin, has levied startling accusations against his mother. He asserted in a recent interview that Kate mistreated him, tying him up with zip ties and confining him in a “containment room.”
Collin Gosselin Opens Up About His Childhood Trauma
Collin Gosselin said in a recent interview with The Sun that he had a “rough” upbringing.
The 20-year-old Jon & Kate Plus 8 alum made fresh accusations on September 10 in the interview, stating that his mother, Kate Gosselin, had abused him beginning when he was eight or nine years old. He said that Kate “isolated” and constrained him from his other seven siblings, that he was “a scapegoat” for his mother’s troubles, and that he frequently received “the brute end of things.”
“My mother had a room built in our unfinished section of the storage basement,” he alleged to the outlet. “She had a room put up with cameras in it, a tiny window in the corner and it was bolt-locked from the outside. It was like a containment room, literally, and it had a mattress on the floor and that’s how I lived.”
Collin asserted that he would spend the majority of the day confined to the room. He eventually revealed that he “never really went outside” and that he had never played with his siblings. He also said that he had quit attending school. They held me there. It was confinement, quite literally.”
“My mother at many, many times, and most of the time, became physically aggressive, verbally, very abusive with the things she would say,” Collin alleged, claiming that their relationship was “very emotionally abusive” and he didn’t “know any better” as a child.
“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.
Collin Was Transferred To Fairmount Behavioral Health System facility
Kate was granted custody of their children at the finalization of their divorce in 2009. She had previously accused Collin of having “unpredictable and violent behavior” when he was 12 years old, so in 2016 she transferred him to the Fairmount Behavioral Health System facility in Philadelphia. Documents show that Collin was given incorrect diagnosis for PTSD, autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, unexplained bipolar disorder, and related diseases.
“It got to the point where word was getting out and child services were being called,” Collin told The Sun of Kate’s alleged abuse. “In her desperate attempt to protect herself, she placed me in this institution with no notice. I was one day just up and gone.”
Collin remembered writing letters to his father in crayon during his 22-month imprisonment, pleading for him to be his “savior” and free him from the facility. While receiving therapy at Fairmount, Collin stated he did not attend any formal schooling and that his days consisted of “just a lot of nothing… sleep, wake up, eat meals.”
Because of confidentiality, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Youth, and Families Press Secretary Brandon Cwalina told PEOPLE that they were unable to confirm or refute the claims.
“Keeping children safe is our top priority at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), and we are committed to ensuring the health and well-being of children throughout the Commonwealth,” Cwalina said. “In Pennsylvania, child welfare is a county-administered and state-supervised system; most child abuse investigations take place at the county level, and we work with our county partners to make sure that any potential abuse and neglect is investigated and handled urgently.”
Kate Addressed Her Side Of The story
In 2018, Collin, then 14 years old, was granted custody of both him and his sister Hannah when he finished the behavioral program. Kate addressed Jon and Collin’s allegations in a Vice TV program called Dark Side of the 2000s, and she released a statement a month prior to his discharge. Kate stated that Collin had “multiple psychiatric diagnoses” and that the facility had admitted him after he had been the victim of an attack with a “weapon.”
“Although it saddens me to do so, I need to speak out now,” she wrote, in part, at the time. “My son Collin, whom I love with all my heart, has received multiple psychiatric diagnoses over the years. For the safety of myself, his brothers and sisters and for his own well-being, he was placed in a facility following years of outpatient treatment which proved insufficient for his needs.”
“Collin’s distorted perception of reality is one of the many issues that he has always struggled with. As many people who have family members grappling with mental health issues can attest, it is rarely and sadly surprising when complete fabrications occur, and this is just another heartbreaking facet of this fight,” she continued. “Unfortunately, I believe Collin remains a very troubled young man who continues to need a lot of help. His brothers and sisters and I have not been directly involved in his life due to his history of unpredictable behavior and violent tendencies towards us.”
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