TEEN MOM Gary Shirley’s stepdad Jody charged with child molestation

The stepdad of Teen Mom star Gary Shirley has been charged with molesting a young girl for years, starting at the age of eight.

According to court records, 60-year-old Jody Patterson is facing four felony counts of child molestation. Two of the counts are first degree felonies and two of the counts are fourth degree felonies.

FOX59/CBS4 reveals an investigation was launched after a 13-year-old girl reported Patterson to the Anderson Police Department on January 19.

The victim alleges the abuse started when she was eight years old, the court documents reveal.

The girl alleges Patterson babysat her at his house and forced her to sleep on the couch with him. Meanwhile, her siblings slept in the guest room. The girl alleges Patterson touched her inappropriately that night.

More from FOX59/CBS4:

The alleged abuse continued for four more years before it stopped around a month before the victim’s 12th birthday, according to court documents. Patterson reportedly told her that she couldn’t disclose the incidents to anyone or she would ‘get in big trouble.’

He reportedly doubled down on his efforts to keep the victim silent, telling her: ‘If you tell your dad, or if you tell your mom, or if you tell anyone in your family, I’ll make sure that you get in really big trouble.’

The criminal charges against Jody Patterson were filed on Thursday, February 12. Starcasm has been unable to find any evidence of Jody being arrested.

JODY PATTERSON ON TEEN MOM

Gary Shirley’s stepdad Jody Patterson was featured prominently on Teen Mom as part of Gary’s journey to find out the identity of his biological father.

Gary initially thought Jody was likely his biological father, but Gary’s mother, Carol Zizak, was unsure. Making matters more complicated was that Jody married someone else after hooking up with Gary’s mom.

Jody later got back with Carol and even proposed on screen during the “Being Gary” special.

Gary decided to find out for sure one way or the other whether or not Jody was his biological father. Jody agreed to take a paternity test on camera, and Gary later received the results indicating Jody was not his biological father.

Below are two tweets from Gary after finding out the DNA results.

He’s in my life now as of the past 4 years. I just wonder who my father is. I have an idea. But still just trying to figure out my next steps.

— Gary Shirley (@ItsGaryTime) March 13, 2018

Gary Shirley later found his biological father — a man named Mike.

JODY PATTERSON HEALTH SCARE

In May of 2020, Gary Shirley revealed Jody Patterson was in an induced coma after contracting the coronavirus.

Gary posted a photo montage of himself with Jody on Instagram on May 16, along with the concerning news in the caption.

Please continue to pray for my family. Jody (my stepdad) was rushed to the hospital a few days ago with very low levels of oxygen. He was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit and diagnosed with Covid-19 & Pneumonia. He is receiving plasma, a new clinical trial drug and on a breathing machine in hopes to fight this virus. As you can imagine this is very difficult on my family. Update on my mom…. She is getting stronger everyday and on the mend. 🙏

Garys shared an update on May 29.

Jody was hospitalized on May 13th with Covid-19. His health continued to decline quickly within the first few days of being admitted. They tried different breathing machines, new covid-19 drug trials, plasma transfusions, and antibiotics until the Doctors had exhausted all their options for Jody. On May 16th Jody was continuing to struggle with breathing, he was fighting 106 degree fevers and the Doctors suggested that Jody be placed on a Ventilator and a drug induced coma. Today, after being on a ventilator for almost 2 weeks we are happy to announce Jody was weaned off the ventilator. He is only on 2 liters of oxygen thru a nose cannula and following simple commands. He has a long road of recovery which will involve physical therapy. Thank you ALL for your continued prayers, support and love for my mom, Jody, and our family. 🙏

Jody’s battle with COVID was shortly after Gary’s mother, Carol Zizak, also contracted it. In their health updates it was revealed Carol and Jody were still living together at the time. It’s unclear if Jody and Carol were still together when he was charged this week.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com