Kate Gosselin Claps Back at Son's Abuse Claims

The war of words and allegations in the. Gosselin family drama is only getting. worse with now new statements from new. players coming into the mix after Kate. Goselin's son Colin accused her of. abuse. Now his father John and John's. former girlfriend are coming to his. defense [music] and there are questions. of potential lawsuits and even criminal. charges. Although is any of that. possible? Is any of that likely? Let's. [music] break it down. Welcome to. Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. I'm.

Jesse Weber. Okay, so [music] we have more updates in. the Kate Gosselin drama since the last. time we covered this on Sidebar. So. after the reality show stars son Colin. Goselin made these damning abuse. allegations against Kate in his new. memoir in the shadow of eight, it is. drawn a lot of attention and now a lot. of comments from different sides. Now, you may recall that the Gosselins, two. parents, eight children, big stars for. years in the early 2000s. This was.

thanks to their show on TLC, John and. Kate Plus 8. And then after John and. Kate Goselin announced their divorce and. Kate was granted primary custody, she. had a new show that was shortened to. just Kate Plus 8. So Colin claims that. he was the victim of his mom's alleged. abuse. Colin claims Kate allegedly zip. tied his hands and feet together, locked. him in the basement, isolated him from. his dad and siblings, dragged him across. the room by his earlobe. He reportedly. told ABC News that his mom had him.

forcibly removed from his home just days. before his 12th birthday, taken to an. institution where he was given. medication. Colin says he was in that. institution for around a year before he. managed to sneak out a note to John, his. father, that was written in crayon, which he says read, "I'm counting on you. to get me out of here. Daddy, I love. you. Save me." Now, Colin reportedly was. at that institution for two years, then. went on to live with John, who got. custody of Colin, claims his mom, Kate,

only visited him once while he was in. that facility. And by the way, more on. that in a minute. But in fact, while. promoting the book, promoting this. memoir, Colin had told Guu Chang for. Good Morning America that everything you. saw on TV was quote lies. Adding quote, "We were redoing takes. It was like, cry. a little harder, laugh a little louder.". And that's what caused me to say, "I. don't want to be part of this machine. anymore." Now, back during the summer. when Colin announced the pre-order. details for his book, he posted this on.

Instagram. Writing this book forced me. to revisit some of the hardest moments. of my life, but it also gave me. something I've been searching for for a. long time. My voice. This isn't the. story people think they know. It's the. story I've lived. And he also added, "The truth is that my siblings were. being overworked. We were being. exploited. There was just no adults to. say maybe this isn't okay for children.". And Colin claims that Kate was actually. investigated by Child Protective. Services, but claims that the paperwork. shows that these allegations were put.

down as quote unfounded. I say all that. now to get to the updates. Okay, let's. start with Kate. So, she responded to. these allegations in a series of. comments on her Tik Tok account. This. was recent. For example, in response to. a comment that said, "Did you visit?". Kate seemingly responded, "I visited. every single time the facility felt he. was stable enough for a visit. Sometimes. a visit was planned, but the facility. canceled it because he was too unstable.

and it would have to be rescheduled." In. terms of calling or contacting him while. he was there, she responded, quote, "Every single time he earned phone. privileges or was allowed to have or. make a phone call." She also claimed. that Colin's quote violent behavior led. to him being committed to a psychiatric. facility for his safety and the safety. of those around him. She even suggested. that perhaps he released the unredacted. medical records to try to substantiate. or disprove anything that's being said.

And she responded to another comment by. saying, "These haters will always blame. every behavior on me and every treatment. on me. Yeah, I don't owe them anything. I've said enough now." And she also. reportedly posted online, quote, "Has. your incredibly high needs child ever. killed animals or tried to assault. multiple people with weapons?" And she. added, "I'm not sure who he convinced or. paid to give him such a report, but I. will remind you that any current. psychological evaluation, irrespective.

of what it says, does not erase his. history of violent behavior with weapons. towards people, the killing of animals, his regular use of racial slurs, and his. physical behavior." let's call it. against female staff while in the. facility just to name a few. Now. yesterday Collins representative. released a statement or issued a. statement to Entertainment Tonight in. response to Kate's claims on TikTok. which read quote it is disturbing that. Kate continues to make false accusations. and publicly attack her own child.

despite multiple professional. psychological evaluations contradicting. her claims. Let us be absolutely clear. Colin has never used a weapon to harm a. family member, nor has he ever harmed or. killed an animal in his lifetime. These. allegations are categorically false. Now, Colin also reportedly previously. said, "The nice thing is I've gotten. multiple psychiatric evaluations done. So many, many times, three times, I. actually have three independent. psychiatric evaluations that have been.

completed. I've passed all of them, obviously. And all I have to say is. maybe it's time for someone else to get. one. And then comes Colleen Conrad. So. Colleen Conrad dated Colin's dad, John, from 2014 to 2021. And she has come to. Colin's defense in the aftermath of all. of this. And this is someone, by the. way, that Colin reportedly previously. referred to as his real mom. So. according to People, she took to. Instagram with the following post. quote, "I've recently become aware of.

several deeply concerning statements. Kate has made about Colin, and I believe. it is important to address them. thoughtfully and factually. I am a. psychiatric nurse practitioner with more. than 35 years of experience in. healthcare. My professional background. has given me extensive experience with. psychiatric diagnoses, symptoms, and. medications, and this is an area I take. very seriously. When Colin came to live. with us, I did not observe the symptoms. or behaviors I would have expected based. on some of the diagnoses he had.

received, nor did I observe the. behaviors that have since been publicly. described. In consultation with his. treating physician, we gradually. discontinued his medications under. medical supervision. Mental health. conditions are real, complex, and. deserving of compassion and. understanding. However, they should. never be used to dismiss another. person's lived experience or deflect. legitimate questions about the past. I. believe these issues deserve to be. addressed with honesty, responsibility, and respect for the people involved.

Now, why is all of this significant. legally speaking? Well, Kate responded. to someone online who said, "Well, why. don't you just sue for defamation if all. these accusations from Colin are lies?". Kate reportedly wrote, "I can't because. I'm a public figure. Rules are. different, unfortunately, or I deaf. would." She added, "The rules are. different for people in the public eye. I consulted a high power LA attorney. You've definitely heard of him years ago. when other people were putting crazy. stuff out there." And that's what he.

said. The courts don't honor it if. you're in the public eye. Now, in a. podcast interview with life coach Jay. Shetty, Colin responded, "My mom has. claimed that because she's a public. figure, she can't take legal action or. whatever." Yes, you can. Anybody can go. and sue for defamation. But I'll tell. you, and I'll say this right now. publicly, she won't because I have. evidence that she has abused me. And if. she does decide to take legal action, she will lose. And I can say that. confidently. That's one part. Now, let. me get to this. We also have John.

speaking out. John told Entertainment. Tonight how he could sue Kate, saying, quote, "She needs to stop. He is not. mentally ill. I would definitely have. grounds to sue Kate for defamation and. liel. I don't even think it's suing. I. think it's just criminal charges." So, that's up to the state, which I'll get. into as well. But also, John told the. outlet that he wants to reconnect with. his estranged kids. He emphasized that. it has nothing to do with quote the book. stuff. So referring to Colin's memoir, but he reportedly said, quote, "I.

haven't talked to them. Of course, I. want to talk to them. I mean, we're. perfect strangers now. It's been a long. time with Maddie and Cara, about 13. years I've been estranged from them. I. have no idea why." And then the other. four, I haven't seen them since before. co maybe. I just want to know how their. life is going. He added, "The message. would be, I've tried to reach out to you. publicly. In the early days, I tried to. reach out to you privately. I hope you. understand that I still love you. I hope. one day you reach out to me and please. read your brother's book because I think.

that will explain a lot and also adding. no matter what's happened or what was. said, no matter how things look from the. outside, I love you. I always have and I. always will. Okay, real quick. If you're. into content creation, if you're putting. things out on social media, you might be. wondering, how do we share all of these. clips on all of these cases so quickly? We use something called Opus Clip. Okay, so Opus Clip is an all-in-one AI editor. that makes it so easy to cut, create, and upload videos across any platform. because Opus Clip finds the best moments.

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comments on this, who to believe, what. to believe. Let me bring on victim's. rights lawyer John Phillips to help sort. this out. So, look, let me let me thanks. for taking the time. Let me first start. with the defamation angle. So on Tik. Tok, you know, Kate was told by someone. online, like I said, if you're, you. know, 100% certain that the accusations. against you are lies, my suggestion. would be to take him to court and sue. him for defamation. Now, she, and I said. this before, she says, "Well, I can't. I'm a public figure. The rules are. different. Otherwise, I would." She.

consulted with a high-powered LA. attorney who told her that, that the. courts don't honor it if you're in the. public eye. Is that true? It. >> It's partially true. So a as a public. figure, you've got to basically be. malice, right? Like that you've got to. go. So in in Florida, in California, most states, it's two things. You got to. be accused of a crime. Um typically. pretty high naturatured crime or it has. to be wanting level of malicious. You.

got to be, you know, creating these lies. at a level of maliciousness, which if. what they're saying is completely. fabricated, I think it could arise to. that standard. You know, you're talking. about a level of of of malfeasants, abuse, um, you know, horribles that that. could arise to that level. But then. people understand then you got to deal. with discovery. And so we get calls all.

the time of people wanting to sue, you. know, for for defamation. I'm like, well, you do realize all of this is. going to be hitting the public record, good, bad, indifferent, and nobody. really wants that. >> Here's the thing, though. She's being. accused of child abuse. I think that. would rise to the level of one of those. statements or series of statements where. you could say, you know, clearly clearly. it's imputing my charact. If she says. it's false, it's false. It's it's. hurting my reputation. It's imputing my. character. you're basically accusing me.

of the worst situation of a of a. horrible crime. Um, now could the. concern be and you couple with what. Collins said is, you know, he claims he. has the receipts, he'll show what. actually happened. Is it become a case. where there was something that may have. happened, some behavior, some activity. where she could interpret it as strict. parenting. He interprets it interprets. it as child abuse and it's difficult to. parse out. It may not be so simple as.

that man committed murder. And you could. say it's very clear-cut. Did you commit. murder or not? But if you're dealing. with a case of alleged child abuse, it. can be a gray area or not or not. Is it. pretty clearcut? >> Family courts deal with this literally. every hour of every day where you have. children involved and you know, one. parent either goes too far or just sees. things through their biased filter, right? like what you did to our children. is so wrong and I want, you know, custody, control, whatever. And then.

[clears throat] down the road, you know, you've convinced yourself of these. horriles. But but there is there are. levels of gray. And and that's the thing. is all of the the black, white, gray is. going to be subject subjected to the. filter of depositions, discovery, and. and what is abuse. You know, I if you. lock a child in his room, if you put it. that way, that's that's that's. concerning. If you send a child to their.

room and not allow them to come out for. an x period of time until they, you. know, learn from their bad behavior, well, that's parenting. Um, some parents. still spank. I tried it with my. firstborn and it didn't work out too. well. Didn't get us very far and so. second and third didn't get spankings. Um, but if you want to weaponize. parenting and and and then find, you. know, certainly levels of abuse and and. let's be very clear, this isn't this. goes to the level of abuse. this these.

allegations. And so I I I think that's. where there is room for a defamation. case here. But the the person that's. that's done bad things, the first thing. they're going to say is, "Well, but I. don't I don't really want to be. subjected to all this discovery and. costs." And while, you know, there are. certainly lawyers that take defamation. cases on contingency, they it's it's. rare. and and and so you you're going to.

have to have uh an insurance policy. don't cover it. So you're going to have. to have two lawyers battling this out. and the hourly fees are going to be five. and six figures by the time it's all. said and done too. >> And maybe she doesn't want to initiate. it for a variety of reasons like you. said, but do you think that what you're. hearing from Colin that it could. potentially be grounds for a lawsuit. from him against Kate? And I wonder a. few things there. What would the claims.

be? Is there a statute of limitations. issue? Could it be intentional or. negligent infliction of emotional. distress? Is there uh a statute of. limitations on that? I I maybe would say. no. Right. If you have if you're. continuing to suffer from uh what that. alleged abuse was, I you tell me because. then I think if you talk to me if. there's a viability of a lawsuit like. that because anybody can file a lawsuit. It's the question of if it's going to be. viable, if it's going to be successful. Do you think that that's potentially. grounds for a lawsuit like that and what.

those claims would be? And if that were. the case, then I think she could file a. counter claim for defamation. So, so. Collins 22 in in most states there's for. abuse [snorts] for for neglect certain. levels of tort. there's an extension of a statute of. limitations kind of a statute of repose. an open window for a period after they. turned 18 because a person can't sue on. their own um technically 17 and younger.

you know otherwise they got to go. through a parent or a guardian. So, in. theory, um, depending upon the state, depending upon where these things. happen, depending upon a lot of things, probably California for the most part, I. would imagine, um, there could be a door opened. Um, you know, the problem is it's. intentional tort. Um, >> am I right that that's what someone. would typically sue over in this case?

would I I don't think anybody would. typically sue um you know could you open. that door and and try to recover for the. harms and losses of of the emotional. distress lifelong you know PTSD and. psychological traumas certainly but it. it's a mess either way because you know. I've I've advised you know victims of. abuse look here's we're going to we're. going to start this in your initials,

right? We're going to you're a minor. now. We can we can file a lawsuit in. your initials, but people are going to. figure that out and it this case will. follow you and be, you know, a bit of an. albatross around your neck um because of. discovery and depositions and and you. know, victims. have to be able to, you know, as all the. privacy laws and all the the the. protection we can get them, victims. still have to stand up in court and. confront their accuser and and some.

don't want that. Some don't have that. metal. And and and you have to be able. to stand up on the truth and and there's. just so many reasons that that victims. don't, you know, initiate lawsuits. against their against their abusers. Um. and also in in here there are there's. certainly. economics. All the parties have access. to some level of money. There's a book, right? Um, but it it's every case is.

different and you kind of have to. analyze what are we doing. Are we doing. this for the court of public opinion or. are we doing this for damages? >> Well, look look, we don't know what's. true. We really don't know. These are. allegations, but I mean a a potential. defamation argument would be Colin's. profiting off of what she would claim. are false allegations. Right now, the. other way of thinking about it is how. complicated is it if this never matured. into a fullblown CPS uh child protective. services taking action, right? This idea.

that they they might have done an. investigation, it was unfounded. Is that. the end all beall or no? >> It's not the end all beall. And and. again, I'm I'm comparing things to kind. of how things work out in family law. courts. Just because, you know, one. spouse didn't call um child protective. services or or whatever the division is. in the state doesn't mean there was an. abuse and and and neglect. I it you. would expect it, right? Is as you're. proving your case, certainly those tough. questions are going to be asked and.

analyzed. you know, if this is true, why. didn't blah blah blah, right? And and. victim blaming will will kind of come. along with it because you would expect. there to be some recordkeeping, you know, over this if if somebody. otherwise had a had a pretty clean track. record, you know, without without police. or or mental health intervention. Um, you know, it it it's all stuff that goes. into damages. again with public figures.

that ceiling is so high um you know I. even had some residual people from Tiger. King um you know saying a bunch of lies. about me but what's it worth like like. at some point um. >> is it worth people believing if people. say things about yeah but if people are. believing Colin and coming to his side. and the social media current [snorts] is. is going against her I think that's a. factor again it could all be true we. don't know these are all allegations We. just don't know at this point. And one.

of the interesting aspects of it, there. seems to be this gambit of, well, why. don't you release the facility records? The And I'm imagining there's HIPPA. complications here, but could Colin is. he the one who could sign off on them. being released and putting an end to. what exactly why he was there, the. reason for why he was there? Um, you. tell me. >> He could. And again, you got to you got. to figure out and and a lot of this is. is as much PR as it is legal. You know,

one of the things that I've specialized. in over the years is advising on legal. PR before you get in involved in the. legal system. Let's talk about the court. of public opinion. You know, publishing. lies about yourself takes a level of of. metal, right? Um, and if you can prove. that the that the core allegations are. true affirmatively, you can certainly leverage. um the other party's lies either into,

you know, kind of protecting your own. reputation or a lawsuit. Um and and here. this whole thing is being kind of. handled in the court of public opinion. initially which leads us all to. speculate like what's what's real and. what's not. And the the the way around. that is to you know use the objective. not the subjective to prove it. >> Okay before we jump back into this I got. an announcement for anybody who's. supported me over the years followed. what I've done over the years in. different projects. Thank you so much. I. have the best fan base in the world. But.

I wanted to do something different. I. thought, why don't you ask me questions. for a change, right? So, what we're. doing is we're giving some fans the. opportunity to meet with me virtually, one-on-one to ask about anything, cases. I've covered, behind the scenes at. Sidebar, Prime Crime, really anything. you've always wanted to know. So, to. enter, you sign up for Long Crime Plus. You click the link below and you submit. your question for a chance to be. featured in an exclusive Just Ask Jesse. special the week of Thanksgiving. And. right now, by the way, you can get 25%. off an annual long crime plus.

subscription with promo code just ask. Jesse. That's just $44.99 for the entire. year. I hope you can be a part of it. I'm really looking forward to it and. hopefully I'll see you then. Now, I. understand that a few years ago he did. release um you know, evaluation report. and some of the records from a. psychologist, Dr. Paulie Delphin, who. apparently, this is according to the US. son, completed a comprehensive. psychological evaluation of column, ruled out six diagnoses, um that he didn't meet the criteria for.

bipolar, autism, ADHD, obsessivempulsive. disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, PTSD. Also said he didn't see evidence. to indicate any other psychiatric. diagnoses or behavioral disorder in his. current functioning. I don't know the. extent of all the records and issues. that were alleged by Kate, but it brings. us to another point, right? Jean getting. involved and saying that he would have. grounds to sue Kate for defamation and. liable and liel that his son is not. mentally ill. Does a parent, even though.

the child is now an adult, does the. parent have a right to sue the ex for. defamation for claims that she has made. against the child? I mean that's an. interesting one if I'm understanding it. correctly. >> Hey and I don't think he understands the. law and no generally not once a child is. 18 once a once a person is 18. their rights in you know are invested in. themselves. You can't sue for somebody. else's defamation of a of an adult that. otherwise has capacity to sue. Um and.

there's nothing indicating that that. Colin wouldn't. So, but you know, we've. all seen these folks kind of grow up and. out on TV and know that that the. limelight is has kind of taken them to. another level. And so, you know, you you. you got to take these statements with a. grain of of salt. [snorts]. Um because it is giving them, you know, [clears throat]. more 15 minutes uh of fame.

>> Well, or they just think Yeah. or they. want to set the record straight. I mean, Colleen, his ex, John's ex, didn't have. to say anything and yet she did. She. posted a lengthy statement. How does. that factor into all of this? [sighs and gasps]. >> Again, if if you're really contemplating. lawsuits and and and that's that's where. things are, you know, typically you'd. keep statements to a closer to the vest. because any party statement can be used.

in court. um admission against interest, party statement, the whole the whole. thing that that gets around hearsay. But. again, you're dealing with the court of. public opinion first and us, you know, each side wanting to protect or project. um their side of this. And both sides. are are are certainly relying upon the. subjective and and to some extent, like. you pointed out, the objective to to.

make their point. as a lawyer I'm like well let's let's. just let's just handle it in court and. then everybody's like well no. >> she would be a witness she would be a. key witness to what she observed of. Colin when he was living with them so I. think that I mean at the very least that. signifies to me you know she might be. willing I don't know her but she might. be willing to provide uh testimony if. this advances but I don't know for sure. and then look the final part about this. is John made the point about potential. criminal charges but that I don't know. if that can actually materialize Like.

even assuming these allegations are. true, isn't there a statute of. limitations issue on alleged child. abuse? >> There is a statute. I mean, it depends. on the level of child abuse. Certainly, if if you know in many states like. sexual abuse does not have a statute of. limitations. Uh physical abuse, physical. neglect would have a um sometimes four, sometimes sevenyear statute of. limitations. But in in cases of he said. she said from the criminal defense. perspective, you see those cases uh.

thrown out all the time and then you. know good police and prosecutors are. going to look at the credibility of the. victims um or lack thereof and say okay. this is what we've got to prove in court. uh and to your point initially why. wasn't this reported sooner? Why, you. know, why are we dealing with with, you. know, crimes or or or tors that are that. are first released, you know, surrounding a book deal? Um, and and I I. don't think many prosecutors would would.

take this up now. >> John Phillips, thank you so much for. coming on, helping us sort through all. this. Appreciate it. >> Absolutely. My pleasure. >> That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.