Adoptive father arrested after son calls into podcast and says he and brothers were sexually abused
02/17/2023 11:39 am PST
HOUSTON (TCD) -- A 38-year-old single adoptive father of nine boys was recently arrested after his 17-year-old son called into a podcast and said he and his brothers suffered abuse.
Charging documents obtained by KTRK-TV allege Hayim Nissim Cohen’s 17-year-old son used a burner phone and told the podcaster he and his brothers suffered rape and abuse at the hands of their adoptive father. The 17-year-old victim said his adoptive father had forced him to perform sexual acts since he was 11, KPRC-TV reports.
The teen allegedly told the podcaster, "Every time that CPS is involved, that Cohen bribes or scares him and his brother."
Child Protective Services reportedly launched eight investigations into Cohen, but nothing was done. The 17-year-old victim allegedly said he planned to wait until he was an adult to talk about the abuse so people would believe him.
Child Protective Services was able to track down the burner phone IP address from the podcast interview and contacted and interviewed the 17-year-old victim on Feb. 6, KPRC reports. The teen reportedly denied the allegations at first, but when confronted about the podcast interview, he told authorities Cohen had started sexually abusing him just two weeks after he was adopted.
When investigators played the podcast interview back to the teen, he "became visibly scared, shaking, and held his head down," KTRK reports.
Child Protective Services reportedly removed six of the boys from the home, ages 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 17, and they were placed into foster care.
According to KPRC, the 17-year-old told authorities one of his brothers tried to run away, but deputy constables found him and brought him back home, and Cohen said the brother was just sleepwalking.
The teen also reportedly told authorities that outside the home, Cohen pretends he suffers an illness that makes him wheelchair-bound. The charging document obtained by KTRK alleges, "The teen stated that Cohen has six oxygen tanks and does not use them and that Cohen only coughs uncontrollably when he is in court."
According to KPRC, the teen also said when Cohen gets angry with the children, he calls them "white trash" and "racist."
Cohen reportedly has a blog about his lifestyle, where he promotes his lifestyle as a single adoptive father.
Cohen was arrested Feb. 11 and booked into the Harris County Jail for continuous sex abuse of a child and sexual assault of a child under 17 years old, records show. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 23.
Prior to this month’s arrest, Cohen allegedly sexually abused a foreign exchange student from Spain in 2019. The student is suing Cohen and the company that placed him with Cohen’s family.
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