Jon Gosselin Says Son Collin Was ‘Wrongly Institutionalized’ in New Interview With Dr. Oz

Now that Jon Gosselin’s decade-long gag order has been lifted, the former TLC star is telling his side of the story about what happened when cameras weren’t rolling in the Gosselin house. The father of eight claims his ex-wife, Kate Gosselin, forced their son Collin into a special needs institution without any medical conditions in a new interview with Dr. Oz on Monday, November 18.

“She, Kate, institutionalized him without a diagnosis, which created a diagnosis. He was wrongly institutionalized,” Jon, 42, told the TV doctor. “Just because he was a difficult child, does not mean he had to be sent away. It took me two years to find him. I had physical custody and not legal at the time and the only way I found out where Collin was — Collin wrote a letter, his roommate smuggled it out, called my manager, my manager vetted the roommate and that’s how I found out where Collin was.”

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Jon said once he learned of what Collin was going through, he was heartbroken. “I was actually in the airport in Mexico when it was sent to me and I felt like, we have got to figure this out,” Jon recalled. He said he later presented the letter to the judge and called the special needs facility himself. “They said ‘Mr. Gosselin, we can do anything you want.’ I drove my car — first time I saw him in three years.”

Although Jon was happy to see his son, he said the facility left Collin just a shell of human. “He was different because he was on Thorazine and all of these medicines, like, all doped up. He [weighed] 75 lbs more than what you see now because he was tranquilized most of the time.”

Since then, Jon won custody of Collin in December 2018 and says he is doing “great” and is in JRTC. Kate, 44, has not made any effort to connect with Collin now that he is in Jon’s care, a source told RadarOnline. Jon added that Collin is left with PTSD from his days in the institution. He said he has seen countless doctors to help him recover. We are happy to see he is thriving and happy with Jon.