William ‘Bill’ Blankinship, the 56-year-old former editor of the reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8, has been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploit of a minor. He was arrested on October 21 after the North Carolina State Bureau Investigation wrapped up their ‘Operation Spyglass’ sting where 24 men were all charged with felonies that included possession and distribution of child pornography and/or sexual acts with a minor.

Bill’s resume included working on other shows that featured children, such as Kate Plus 8, 17 Kids and Counting and Table for 12. The arrest report states:

William is charged with 10 counts of “sex exploit of minor (3rd) 14-1,” which means he possessed material that contained a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity.

He is being held without bond, and a spokesperson for the FBI explains:

“Usually when that happens, they’re under the authority of the U.S. Marshals until they are sentenced and convicted, and then they’d be sent to a Federal prison.”

TLC, the network that hosts the shows that Bill worked on, quickly released a statement saying that the felon was never directly employed by them but came in through a subcontractor of the production company:

“Bill Blankinship was employed by Serious Robots, with whom Figure 8 Films subcontract for editing services.  Upon learning of the shocking allegations his employment was terminated.  At no time was this man ever in the field or in direct contact with any of the talent for any of our productions.”

Back in 2009, Jon Gosselin voiced his disgust with himself for placing his children on television for the world to see, saying:

“I put my kids out there to every pedophile on the planet and they never got paid for it.”

Source

Jon Gosselin waved his white flag and departed from the reality television spotlight quite some time ago, and now that his ex-wife Kate‘s show has run its course, he has some sound advice for the former Kate Plus 8 star: get back to a normal lifestyle.

In an interview with RumorFix, Jon says:

“Reality TV is not a career. Get back to a normal life – a simple life.”

Following TLC’s cancelation of her Kate Plus 8, the reality star told PEOPLE she’s “freaking out” about providing for her eight kids.

Jon, who says that he continues to pay child support and sees his kids “a lot,” isn’t worried.

“Things will work out the way they should work out,” he said. “Obviously, there are families out there that have several kids – people work normal jobs, and things work out.”

As for concerns that Kate might not be able to keep her farmhouse in Pennsylvania where she and the children reside, Jon responded: “I don’t have a farm on 24 acres and the kids seem to have a great time at my house.”

Jon, whose divorce from Kate played out on TV in 2009, says he’s given up his reality career and is leading a simple life, working as a computer support engineer.

“I go to work every day and provide for my family,” he said. “I spend time with my kids – spend time on the weekends … and enjoy a normal lifestyle.”

Check out the video below:

Source

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry will not be filing charges against Jon & Kate Plus 8 producers, who were under investigation for potentially violating state child labor laws.

According to a letter issued last month, but released Wednesday, producers must obtain child-permits if they wish to film the Gosselin children in the future. They must also allocate a portion of the proceeds into a trust fund for kids, the Associated Press reported.

“Kate and I were doing what was best for our family,” Jon Tweeted Wednesday. “And it gave us an opportunity to spend quality family time together.”

Kate’s brother and sister-in-law Kevin and Jodi Kreider, who have spoken out against the show, were expected to testify Wednesday as Pennsylvania state lawmakers hold hearings to review child labor laws for TV and film production.

“The allegations made today by Kevin and Jodi Kreider have not been my experience at all during the production of Jon & Kate Plus 8,” Jon said in another tweet.

Source

Jon Gosselin’s lawyer, former assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony F. List, tells TMZ “under the right circumstances” Jon would do a show with Kate, but “the contract would have to be tighter.” He did not elaborate, but we’re guessing it has something to do with the way TLC cleaned Jon’s clock in court.

List did not say what type of show he’d like to do, but said having Jon and Kate around the kids more would be a definite plus.

List says Jon would “love to settle” the latest legal dispute he ignited. TMZ broke the story that Jon filed legal papers asking for primary custody and child support. But Jon will press on with the case, unless Kate gives up her “global commitments.” According to List, Jon feels Kate can’t have it both ways — being both a star and an attentive parent.

List says he and Jon both feel Kate is “addicted to the paparazzi.” He says even if Kate is booted from “Dancing with the Stars” on Tuesday, he won’t drop his custody case because Kate is “caught up in the glamour of Hollywood” and will take other jobs.

Now if Kate brings Jon along for the Hollywood tour, well apparently that’s a whole other Oprah.

Source, Fame Pictures

While Kate Gosselin was busy on The Jay Leno Show and not changing her last name, ex-hubby Jon Gosselin tried to trade in his car last Friday — the day the parents’ of eight divorce was finalized. Jon attempted to make a profit by trading in his BMW for a Subaru plus an additional $4,000, TMZ reports.

An employee at Auto Exchange USA in Lancaster, Pa., told TMZ Jon arrived at the car lot wanted to trade his 2005 BMW M3 for a 2008 Subaru STI and the additional money.

However, Jon’s plan to come up with some extra dough failed. His beloved Beamer was not worth as much as he hoped, and Jon aborted his mission sans the Subaru or the $4,000.

The Lancaster, Pa. car lot is ironically the spot where Stephanie Santoro used to work, the babysitter Jon had an alleged affair with.

Jon may be in for some more bad luck when his former mistresses combine forces in a reported TV interview.

Kate Major, Hailey Glassman and Stephanie are currently in discussions to sit down as a group and tell the world their side of the Jon Gosselin story, HollywoodLife.com reported earlier this month.

“I think the truth is going to come out,” Kate, the former Star reporter who left her job after falling for Jon over the summer, told Hollywood Life.

“We are all meeting together for the first time very soon and all three of us are going to publicly talk,” Kate explains. “The interview is being arranged as we speak.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Jon Gosselin wasn’t pulling out the tissues during estranged wife Kate Gosselin’s tear-filled TLC interview Monday.

During her speech, Kate, 34, reflected on the end of their 10-year marriage, saying: “Whatever happened, it happened so quickly … Something had to give.”

On his Twitter page Tuesday, Jon, 32, suggested she wasn’t entirely honest.

“She claims she ‘didn’t remember’ who called it quits. Hey at least she said ‘didn’t remember’ instead of lieing [sic],” wrote Jon, who has spoken out numerous times that Kate pulled the plug on their marriage by refusing counseling.

He also said that Kate “even slipped last night” by admitting that “we split up a year ago!” (When the fifth season of the Gosselins’ TLC show premiered May 25, Kate said she didn’t know where their relationship was headed.)

Jon — who is now seeking spiritual guidance from high-profile Rabbi Shmuley Boteach — also Twittered that his life is returning to normal in Wernersville, Pa.

“Got up early this morning took Mady and Cara to the bus,” he wrote. “Came home to then hug my other six little morsels.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

The romance has long since died, but for Kate Gosselin, a kernel of the emotion still lives.

“A part of me always will [love Jon],” she says. “It’s hard to to be married to somebody for 10 years and try to say, ‘No, I don’t love them anymore.’ It doesn’t work really well. I love the memories that we have together.”

Sitting down with the Today show’s Natalie Morales for a special aired on TLC Monday night, Gosselin, 34, describes a bleak life after splitting with Jon, with her living in the center of a maelstrom of media attention.

Can’t Turn Life Off
“We can’t turn life off,” she says. “You’re viewing our lives; yes, you can turn it off. I can’t turn life off. In the last nine, 10 months, it’s gotten real crazy, and I can’t seem to get away from it. I just want peace for my kids.”

Responding to Morales’s argument that she could find peace simply by leaving the cameras behind, the onetime nurse said that her life has turned into a Catch-22 situation she can’t seem to escape, and that she has no alternative but to keep pursuing what has become the primary source of income for herself and her eight children.

“At this point, I can’t go back,” she says.

Later, she adds: “I signed up for a reality show, I didn’t sign up to be a tabloid staple. If I said I was done and it was enough, it would just be five more covers of why it is that I’m done, and so I would be living that for a period of time essentially with no income, with no job.”

Hopes for the Show to Go On
Kate says that she hopes she can continue filming either with the kids or on her own TLC show. As for allegations that she’s exploiting her kids and harming them by putting them in the spotlight, Kate was adamant that the critics are wrong.

“Coming from a mom who laid on bed rest from the time I found I was pregnant – from seven weeks pregnant to 30 weeks – and would not put anything in my mouth that would harm them, and fought for every second of their existence, I can tell you there is nothing that would ever force me to put them in harm’s way,” she says.

On Her Own
There’s little support from friends or family, who she says have been either driven away or corrupted by the media’s fascination with the family’s self-destruction. Ultimately, that included Jon, 32, as well.

“Whatever happened, it happened so quickly. I think I was on a plane coming back from somewhere and I remember thinking, ‘We’re not going to recover from this,’ ” she says. “I looked at him and he looked at me, and we were completely different people. I think somewhere down the line his goals changed … and they felt detrimental to me and the kids.”

Choking up, she adds: “I still wake up every day and I think the phone will ring and it’ll be … the old Jon.”

Wishing It Could Be Like Before
But Kate, who calls herself the “forgotten middle child” who now trusts “a very, very small group of people,” says she bears some of the responsibility for alienating her husband, especially when it came to her notoriously controlling manner as a wife and mom.

“I was wrong to treat him that way,” she says.

But the divorce has been hardest, naturally, on the kids. “They all to a degree say I wish mommy and daddy could be here at the same time, and to that I say, I do too,” Kate says.

Source, Bauer-Griffin