Son of man accused of abusing adopted sons charged with sexual assault of 2nd sibling, records show

Mycah Hatfield Image
Friday, August 4, 2023
2nd boy claims sexual abuse by older adoptive brother, records show
Avshalom Cohen has four sexual assault charges for allegedly abusing two of his adoptive brothers. His father is accused of committing the same crime.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Two additional sexual assault charges were filed against a man already accused of misconduct with a younger sibling.



Avshalom Cohen, 22, now faces a total of four sexual assault charges in Harris County for accusations of abusing two of his adoptive brothers.



Avshalom is Hayim Cohen's eldest adopted son. Hayim Cohen faces 11 charges of sexual misconduct with six of his nine adopted boys.



Following the father's arrest in February, six of the boys, who were minors, were placed in CPS custody.



SEE ORIGNAL REPORT: Adoptive father of 9 charged after teen calls podcast alleging yearslong sex abuse


An adoptive father, Hayim Nissim Cohen, is accused of sexually abusing his nine sons for years after one of the teens reported the abuse on a podcast.


Since then, one boy told authorities he was also abused by Avshalom when he was 14 years old. He said it happened two or three times, according to court records.



Charges were filed against Avshalom for those allegations on July 13.



Less than two weeks later, the 22-year-old was charged with abusing yet another sibling.



"Complainant stated that he himself was also victimized by the Defendant, but he didn't know if he should or could say anything about the abuse in previous forensic interview," court documents read.



The officer who wrote the charging document determined the boy was 14 when the abuse started. It is believed to have lasted 14 months.



The victim told the officer Avshalom "used to always do sexual things for money or for games."



The teen specifically mentioned the video game "Call of Duty" and said the abuse typically happened when there was "new in-game material released that could be purchased," according to court documents.



He mentioned the desensitization to sexual abuse he experienced because of the ongoing situation with his father, according to records.



Avshalom was approximately 18 to 19 years old when the alleged abuse happened.



He is currently in the Fort Bend County Jail, held on a $25,000 bond.



PREVIOUS REPORT: Son of father accused of sexually abusing adopted sons, charged with sexual assault of sibling: DOCS


Avshalom Cohen is now charged with the alleged sexual abuse of younger adoptive siblings months after his father was arrested for abusing six sons.


When Houston police went to pick him up on the warrants for the original two sexual assault charges, a spokesperson for the department said they found a gun and two unlabeled pill bottles during a traffic stop in the neighboring county.



At the end of April, Avshalom was arrested by the Maverick County Sheriff's Office during a traffic stop.



A deputy noted in his report that he pulled over a black van on April 29 at 5:21 a.m. in the Eagle Pass area. He learned that Avshalom was the driver.



While searching the vehicle, the deputy found eight undocumented migrants, a smoke bomb, a loaded gun, a 9mm 50-round drum, and a police badge.



According to the incident report, Avshalom told the deputy that he did not know the people he was transporting were undocumented. The deputy searched his phone and found messages "with an unknown subject instructing him to pick up at said location and to drop off in other locations."



The Maverick County District Attorney confirmed that the case is still pending.



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MORE PREVIOUS COVERAGE:



Judge questions health status of father of 9 adopted boys accused of sex abuse: 'Great theatrics'


Adoptive father of 9 accused of abusing sons faces 8 new charges in last 24 hours


'Crying out for help': Atlanta podcaster calls 911 after adopted teen claims Houston dad's sex abuse

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