Jon Gosselin may sue after Kate Plus 8 editor arrested for pedophilia

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Jon Gosselin has responded to the fact that one of the longterm editors of his kids’ reality show, “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” was arrested last month and charged with 10 counts of “sex exploit of minor (3rd) 14-1.” According to Radar, that means the film editor “possessed material that contained a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity.”

TLC was quick to issue a statement that the man was a subcontractor through another company, that he was never in contact with the Gosselin children, and that he’s been fired. Jon Gosselin tells Star [via Radar] that he’s met this man a few times, though, and that he’s considering legal action against TLC. I don’t blame him. This is despicable. Plus TLC had Jon up against a legal wall when he tried to get out of his contract and do media appearances, and now he’s got a legitimate reason to sue them. Jon told Star that the alleged pedophile had access to all the raw footage of his children that was filmed, including potty training, showers, etc. He’s in contact with authorities to see if any unaired private footage was potentially distributed by this creep. As a mom, Jon’s response makes a lot of sense to me and sounds completely reasonable and even restrained. Here’s more:

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, William Blankinship was arrested on October 21 on 10 counts of sexually exploiting a minor, and now the reality show dad told Star in an exclusive interview that he is sickened by the news.

“My first thought when I heard this was, ‘Oh my God!’” Jon said. “I’m sure everyone working on the show is shocked and never expected something like this.”

The father of eight, who met Blankinship several times, said he is distressed about the access the film editor had to raw footage of the kids he shares custody of with their mother, Kate Gosselin.

“I have contacted an attorney and I’m trying to gather all the information from the authorities in North Carolina to see if there is any evidence he has footage of our family or if he has distributed it.”

Gosselin said he has not discussed his concerns with his ex-wife, but plans to contact her about the situation. “I will write her an email because I feel this is going to explode, because it is so bad,” Jon told Star.

For now though, Jon said he is primarily concerned about footage Blankinship might have seen. “Of course we filmed potty training…Any parent would be freaked out by this, because the cameraman definitely shot the kids getting ready for bed, being showered and being changed.”

For more exclusive details from Star magazine’s exclusive interview with Jon Gosselin pick up the latest issue of Star — on newsstands Thursday.

[From Radar]

It’s so telling that Jon is the one speaking out about this, not Kate. I’m not saying that Kate necessarily doesn’t give a crap, just that she’s not going to say anything about it because she’s prepping her kids for a long career in show business. She has a lifestyle to support and getting worried about some creep ogling at her kids is not on her agenda.

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Jon Gosselin is shown on 6/16/10. Kate Gosselin is shown on 3/4/10. Credit: WENN and Pacific Coast News

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45 Responses to “Jon Gosselin may sue after Kate Plus 8 editor arrested for pedophilia”

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  1. LeeLoo says:

    That is so disgusting. The biggest relief is that this dude was never in contact with the children.

    The funny thing is, if Dude did distrubute raw footage, Jon will sue TLC on behalf of his children and TLC will have to settle for A LOT. Jon will be the one able to provide the kids with the lifestyle Kate wants. Lol.

  2. Dawn says:

    You go Jon! Kate and TLC set him up from the get go to be the bad guy about everything and in reality it was always that shrew Kate. TLC knew that Kate would do whatever it took to stay famous and on the air, god only knows who she let have contact with those children while she remained busy with her bodyguard. All the reality whores are the same; it really is all about the fame and money for them, nothing more nothing less. It is about time that we as a society turn them all off.

  3. txvxf says:

    Um, why would any sensible parent allow someone to film their kids being potty trained, showering, or changing clothes? Some things are private, aren’t they? Don’t we warn people about taking nude pictures, or sexytime pictures, or stupid drunken pictures, because they will eventually get out?

  4. Franny says:

    gross.

  5. Wildone says:

    I’m glad he taking action and I have a feeling that Kate will soon make a statement about it to try and one up Jon and make herself look like better parent who cares about her kids. No matter what you say about this guy he loves his kids and his kids love him and being around him a lot more than Kate.

  6. konspiracytheory says:

    Jon was just as guilty as Kate of exploiting the kids BUT…he saw the light a long time ago and has been fighting to regain as much of their privacy as possible. Kate is a classic narcissist and will *never* view those children as anything other than extensions of herself. In her twisted mind, she wants fame at all costs so why wouldn’t the kids want that as well? Best of luck Jon – I’m rooting for you and the kids.

  7. lucy2 says:

    Terrible situation, I can’t blame him for being angry and upset.
    I understand going after TLC and the other companies involved, they are responsible for hiring this guy, but at the same time, J&K were the ones to OK their children being filmed during all those moments such as “potty training, showers, etc.” and broadcast on TV to the whole world, where I’m sure a few horrible people had access to watch.

  8. Anonymous says:

    This whole thing sickens me. I always thought Jon was the more reasonable parent of the two, though everything is relative. He still let them be filmed potty-training, etc. Those poor children need to be taken out of the spotlight and given a normal life.

    Reality TV needs to be shutdown.

  9. texasmom says:

    I hope he sues on behalf of the kids, gets them settlements in their own names, and then sues for sole custody. Then those poor kids will never have to get pimped out by their mom again. He should be able to get settlements for the six little ones, I am not sure about the older twins who were thankfully not filmed nude. But he should be able to support the big girls if he gets some settlement money for the little ones.

  10. I.want.shoes says:

    The best way to ensure that creeps don’t get access to footage of your naked kids is DON’T SHOVE YOUR KIDS DURING SUCH PRIVATE MOMENTS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.

  11. podzol says:

    My first thought is exactly the same as yours, txvxf. While I understand there’s a lot of cameramen around to film footage, it’s absolutely unnecessary for them to be present when the kids shower, poop, change, etc.

  12. ceenitall says:

    Another reason children shouldn’t be in reality shows. Someone has to make this stop.

  13. ahoyhoy says:

    Jon must have been HORRIFIED to hear this news. He will never know how much footage is out there….and we all know pedos pass around & share their nasty videos.
    Those poor kids. Jon deserves custody, because he at least treats them like people.

  14. Kaboom says:

    One might argue both Jon and Kate might be on the hook for letting inappropriate material be filmed that pedophiles may get access to.

  15. dorothy says:

    This should be a wake-up call to all idiots that put their kids on reality shows.

  16. k says:

    ITA with txvxf.

  17. RobN says:

    It’s a money grab. You knew strangers were filming your children naked and didn’t care. You didn’t seem to care that pedophiles all over the country could watch the show and see intimate shots of your children but now there’s a way to make a buck and all of a sudden you’re outraged. B.S.

  18. BerMan says:

    Legally as the father he should do all inquiries of what this man has of his children as well as TLC. Unused bathing or potty training or any private children footage should be destroyed with all copies. This situation will not be new for any children on these reality shows because of the computer and internet capabilities of taken film or photo footage and distorting them into inappropriate and sexual matter. The parents eager for fame and celebritism will sign their lives away as well as their childrens innocents, youth, well being, mental status, privacy and safety. There’s always a dark outcome.

  19. Zoe says:

    First of all, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on in the lawsuit. It was the editor who was accused, not the cameraman. The editor had no access to the children in person or the family, and thus didn’t pose a direct threat as he wasn’t in contact with them.

    Disturbing story, for sure. Should anyone be surprised by this, though? That show (and shows like Toddlers in Tiaras) take it way too far – TLC exploits children more than any other network I can think of. Are shots of potty training really necessary or those kids in the bathtub? Come on. One day, when they are old enough, they will be mortified to have that on film. There should have been better boundaries in place as to what could be filmed and what couldn’t – the bathroom is clearly off limits and of no concern to anyone else.

  20. WOM says:

    It speaks volumes that Jon Gosselin called a lawyer, then the press, and eventually plans to email his ex-wife.

    If it were my kids, my first response would be to contact the police and confirm if the pervert had inappropriate photos/footage of my children. Depending on the outcome of that call, I’d be talking to a child psychologist. Mounting a big-money lawsuit would not even be on my radar.

    This just proves that Jon Gosselin values money, and fame more than his children’s well being.

  21. Anastasia says:

    Actually he DOES have a leg to stand on. And he’s the one who tried to stop filming way back when. He was very uncomfortable with it.

    Hell, Kate left him and filed for divorce mostly because he refused to agree to keep filming, then it comes out that the editor on 23 episodes has been distributing child porn???

    By the way, most of the episodes this guy was editor for was AFTER TLC told Jon to keep his trap shut and threatened him legally. So yeah, Jon’s got a solid case.

    Kate couldn’t give a shit. She just wants to keep the money rolling in.

  22. Anastasia says:

    Zoe: you might want to re-think your statement. The editor was indeed a threat. He was arrested for 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor under North Carolina law. If you read the statute, you’ll see that means he either produced child pornography (children actually in sexual situations), distributed child porn, or both.

    Federal and state authorities thought he was enough of a threat to be listed and described as one of the top 25 in heavy trade child pornography in their whole Operation Spyglass sting.

    Go read the original articles when this first broke and you’ll see. ANY parent would be freaked as hell.

  23. Rio says:

    As to all the “how can you film potty-training/bathing/etc”…like you don’t have embarrassing pictures of you running around as a buck-naked toddler? Taking pictures or filming stuff like that is something parents do. Hell, it’s the classic “embarrass the date on prom night” blackmail material.

    In the beginning of the show there still was an element of education, so it doesn’t surprise me that milestones such as potty-training were filmed.

  24. januaries says:

    To have a case, he would have to prove that there were somehow damaged or harmed. There is, fortunatley, no proof that this happened.

    It is absolutely disgusting that this guy is involved in child pornography, without a doubt. But, John and Kate both should have thought about these types of issues before they signed consents and contracts for the children to be filmed.

  25. bluhare says:

    Interesting Jon says he met the guy a few times and Kate says she never heard of him.

  26. txvxf says:

    @Rio – yes, there are embarrassing pictures of me as a toddler. However, there *aren’t* embarrassing, revealing pictures of my kids. 1. Life was different 35 years ago before the Internet, and b. I’m pretty sure those embarrassing pictures were passed around by my dad’s creeper friends, and there’s no way I’ll ever let that happen to my children.

    It comes down to whether you view your child as someone to protect or someone to exploit/make fun of/make a buck off of. Why in the world would you want to embarrass your kid with those sort of pictures, especially in front of their prom date? There are so many other positive ways to get your child to behave than to blackmail them with naked pictures. Not to mention that using those sort of pictures as blackmail creates a feeling of shame about natural childhood activities, and a sense that one’s body is not one’s own to control access to.

    Taking pictures or videos of your nekkid kid might have been something that was done 30 years ago, but no sensible, caring parent would do it now.

  27. txvxf says:

    And why in the world is Jon giving a statement about this to the press before contacting his ex-wife about it? You’d think the first thing on his mind would be his family, fractured as it is, not Radar.

  28. MissyA says:

    Wow! Why isn’t this a bigger story?

  29. Anastasia says:

    txvxf: I would imagine Kate has pretty strict rules on how he can communicate with her, thus the email.

    Rio: big difference, though–any pics or video of my kid remain in my HOUSE. I never sold her private life for a TV show for all to see.

  30. lucy2 says:

    Agree w/ anastasia – HUGE difference between private family photos or videos vs. having a professional camera crew of strangers documenting your children’s every move and airing it on TV.
    It amazes me that there are still people willing to do these shows, but I guess the money and fame is too tempting.

  31. Denise says:

    Good for Jon; this development is disgusting. Kate really thinks she is hot stuff in the photo above…

  32. Wildone says:

    WOM@ why would he call the police if the guy was already arrested by the police? He did the right thing if he was to go to the press first and then his lawyer than maybe I can see your point and his lawyer would look into if the guy had any inappropriate photos/footage of the kids that’s part of his job.

  33. Penguen says:

    Can I add a little bit of levity by saying that I just remembered that my parents have a picture of me running around naked with a bucket on my head?

    Of course, that picture is in a private album, and has never been shown to anyone. Those of you who pointed out that times have changed since parents took those kinds of photos are absolutely right.

    I agree that Jon and Kate should have stepped in and refused to allow any filming of nakedness, potty training, showering, etc. The whole show in and of itself was exploitative of the kids, but those scenes really took it to another level of horrifying.

    I feel so sad for the twins and sextuplets.

  34. anne_000 says:

    I can understand why Jon would contact the lawyers before contacting Kate. It’s safer & better if he does this all above board or else Kate might find a way to screw him over & control this scandal to her own best interest over everybody else’s.

    There’s no point for Jon to go to the cops when the cops already have this guy arrested.

  35. photo jojo says:

    I’ve always been on Jon’s side, even when he was being a giant douche canoe and wearing Ed Hardy. I hope he gets a mint for those kids, god knows they will need the money for therapy later.

  36. F5 says:

    He should arrest himself for exploiting his children. Disgusting people -_-

  37. Jilliterate says:

    Forgive me for not totally getting the American legal system, but on what grounds is Gosselin planning on suing TLC? I could understand if the editor had previously been charged with possession of child pornography (or any other crime that implied he was a threat to minors) and TLC had failed to perform a proper background check, but I haven’t heard any mention of that. If the man has no prior convictions listed on a police background check, then why would TLC be held responsible for hiring a man who, for all official and legal appearances, appeared to be no threat to the children?

  38. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    I’m surprised it took this long for a pervert to get ferreted out out the works. What do you think is going to happen when you give a gaggle of strangers that kind of access to your kids? What has happened to your mind that allows you to think that this very thing isn’t a real possibility when you sign those contracts? Heck, it’s probably in the top two on the list of concerns. Hindsight isn’t 5150, it’s a failure of common sense. You can’t watch all of your hockey stadium’s worth of personal offspring all of the time, and film crews aren’t babysitters or surrogate conscience-bearers or brick walls or invisible chunks of nothing with no responses, agendas or desires. Yeah, most adults are decent with kids, but it only takes one funny uncle to bring down the whole operation, and while it’s absurd and cruel to say that had something happened (thank God it didn’t) it would’ve been the fault of the parents, you owe those kids far more than does a television network, even though I’ll go out on a limb and say TLC isn’t singularly devoted to laying waste to the state of childhood (consciously). It’s easier for a parent to keep close guard over his or her bundles than it is for ‘The TLC’, who, soiled hands though they may have in some situations, have never met your babies.

    It takes a village, not the teamsters.

  39. mary says:

    TLC stated that this guy was not in any contact with the gosselin’s. LET US NOT FORGET ABOUT THE OTHER SHOWS 19 KIDS AND COUNTY, SISTER WIVES,ETC. Everyone is right there to put Kate out as a “Mommy Dearest” what about the 19 or now 20 kids and counting and other shows. I guess they are all out to exploit their kids. OMG Give it a rest.

  40. eternalcanadian says:

    Wow, TLC really needs to be shut down or sued to high heaven. Yes, they have good shows like Little Couple, Cake Boss, and Say Yes to the Dress, but other shows are just shitty like Sister Wives, Kate Plus 8, 19 Kids and Counting, and so forth.

    I hope this is a huge wake-up call for Kate and she realizes she’s basically pimping her kids out ala Kris Kardashian (notice she never uses Jenner anymore?). Those kids are going to end up messed up like the Kardashian kids and I hope Jon steps in or is able to have more legal ground with them now.

  41. alma says:

    mary, good point. I hope those other people were better than Goslyn and not let people video tape their kids in the bathroom, showering and changing.

  42. Lisa says:

    Ugh. It’s funny how Jon is turning out to be the sensible one between the two of them.

  43. Jaariel says:

    “Hindsight isn’t 5150?”
    Am I missing something?

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  45. R.SD says:

    Will this idiot Kate person never go away?! Why doesn’t everyone get together and sign one long,huge petition and send it off to her and in it we will all tell her once and for all,so maybe she’ll get it finally, that she WASN’T and still ISN’T the big deal, the star, the person we all sat in front of our t.v.s to see – it was those six adorable,perfect little babies! It was them and only them we were ever interested in! They were the stars – NOT HER! She was just the luckiest b – – – h in the world who was blessed to have carried them and got to take them home to have,hold,love and cherish forever – and that was HER JOB! We didn’t want to have to see her. We hated that we had to see her and the idiot married to her – but if we wanted to see and watch those babies,we had to tolerate watching and listening to her too. Without those kids she’s nothing!!