Kate Gosselin's Son Collin Accuses Dad Jon Gosselin of Physical Abuse, Prompting Investigation (2024)

A child abuse investigation has been launched following an incident involving 16-year-old Collin Gosselin, who later accused his father Jon Gosselin of punching and kicking him.

PEOPLE confirms that the County of Berks, Pennsylvania Child & Youth Services has notified Collin's mom, Kate Gosselin, of an open investigation into an alleged violent incident between Jon and the teenager that took place earlier this month.

According to the CYS report, which PEOPLE has viewed, the allegation is of "causing bodily injury to a child through recent act/failure to act: hitting/punching." The report does not name Jon as the alleged perpetrator of the abuse, but the allegation is consistent with Collin's accusation last week on Instagram that his father "beat" him. The Lower Heidelburg Township Police Department had no comment when reached by PEOPLE.

"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," Kate tells PEOPLE. "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."

She adds of Jon, "I don't want my children around him. Enough is enough."

Last week, Collin accused his father of physically abusing him on Instagram.

"My dad is a liar," he wrote in the since-deleted post, a screenshot of which PEOPLE has reviewed. "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 tells PEOPLE that the incident occurred after Collin became upset while talking to his father in the car.

"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 claims. "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."

According to the source, Collin called the police, who responded to the scene.

A rep for Jon did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for comment.

While CYS is currently looking into what happened, it does not seem likely Jon will face any legal repercussions. Berks County District Attorney John Adams tells PEOPLE, "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."

Kate says this development "makes me sick to my stomach."

"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 says. "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, who divorced in 2009 after 10 years of marriage, are parents to twin daughters Cara and Madelyn, 19, and sextuplets Alexis, Aaden, Joel, Leah, Hannah and Collin, 16. The family shot to reality TV stardom in 2007 with their TLC series, Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Collin spent a little over two years away from his family in a program for children with special needs before moving in with Jon. Hannah also lives with her father, while the other four sextuplets and the twins live with their mother.

Now, Kate adds, "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."

Speaking to reporters last year, Jon said he's not in communication with his children besides Collin and Hannah.

"It's what the kids want to do," he said. "If they don't want to talk to me, that's fine, as long as they keep up with their sibling connections."

Jon has also publicly accused Kate of abuse in press interviews. But after the latest alleged incident, Kate says she feels compelled to speak out.

"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," she says of her kids. "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."

On Sunday, Collin posted an Instagram showing off his new haircut. "Got a new cut and I'm doing better than ever," he wrote. "Life is too great to not enjoy! #livelikeitsyourlastday." To Kate, that post, in the wake of Collin's allegation about physical abuse, is troubling.

"I have always parented with my children's best interests in mind. He parents to make himself look good. It is so sick it makes my blood boil," she says. "I am horrified that this man is the father of my children. I don't want my children to be associated with someone who loses his mind because his car got dented."