Kate Gosselin sues ex over book, alleges hacking

[August 27, 2013]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Former reality TV star Kate Gosselin filed a lawsuit Monday accusing her ex-husband of stealing her hard drive and hacking into her phone and computer to get material for a tell-all book.

Jon Gosselin accessed email, bank accounts and other private information for a book called "Kate Gosselin: How She Fooled the World," according to the federal lawsuit.

The 2012 book was written by Jon Gosselin's friend and business partner, tabloid writer Robert Hoffman, but pulled from the market after two days because the information had been illegally obtained, the lawsuit said.

"Jon violated a federal anti-hacking statute in order to publish salacious, scandalous and defamatory information about Kate," said her lawyer A. Jordan Rushie. "It's damaged her reputation."

The couple starred in the TLC show "Jon & Kate plus 8," detailing life with their twins and sextuplets, before they separated in 2009 and later divorced.

She, a former nurse who now runs a coupon website, lives in Sinking Spring. He worked in information technology and now lives in nearby Wyomissing. Both are outside Reading, northwest of Philadelphia.

The lawsuit accuses Jon Gosselin of identity theft, wiretapping and invasion of privacy and seeks unspecified damages. A lawyer who once represented Jon Gosselin did not immediately return a message. Hoffman is also named as a defendant. He did not immediately return an email message sent through his website.

Even beyond their acrimonious divorce, the Gosselins have been embroiled in a series of legal problems over the past few years.

• The state investigated whether the children's TV appearances violated child labor laws, amid concerns from her estranged brother.

• Jon Gosselin threated to seek primary custody of the children on grounds that his ex-wife's appearances on "Dancing With the Stars" made her an absentee mother, claims her lawyer called reckless.

• Jon Gosselin tangled with the TLC network over outside appearances that allegedly violated his contract for the family-friendly show.

• A Pennsylvania marriage therapist sued Kate Gosselin for the cost of flying to California in 2009 to work with the couple.

• Jon Gosselin's apartment in New York was ransacked by someone who slashed furniture, stole his TV and left a note pinned to his dresser with a butcher knife, according to his lawyer.

• In 2011, Kate Gosselin pleaded guilty to driving 88 mph in a 65 mph zone. She told police she was hurrying home to her children.

[Associated Press; By MARYCLAIRE DALE]

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