How Could You? Hall of Shame-Hayum Nissim Cohen and Avshalom Cohen UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Harris County, Texas, adoptive father Hayum Nissim Cohen,38, “was arrested last month on 12 charges of abuse against six of his nine sons.”

“The family of a phony Hasidic father who found fame on TikTok for adopting nine boys is defending him after he was charged with sexually abusing most of them.

Hayum Nissim Cohen, 38, regularly shared videos of his family in Houston on social media, gaining 200,000 followers on TikTok before one of his adopted sons, 17, raised the allegations against him to the BlindSkinnedBeauty podcast.

But Cohen’s oldest son, Avshalom, 22, rushed to support his father as he claimed his brother was lying and suffered from multiple personality disorder, autism and cognitive issues.

“My father never abused me,” he told DailyMail.com.

“He’s a great father that would never hurt any of us. If I saw anything out of order by anyone, I would have done everything in my power to protect my brothers.”

“Cohen was already out on bond in an earlier child sex case when investigators busted him after looking into his son’s phone call, where he claimed he was sexually assaulted since he was 11 and that Child Protective Services never took action despite being called out at least eight times.

CPS declined to comment on the case.”

“Along with the 17-year-old, five other kids — ages 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16 — also came forward with their own allegations, prosecutors said, with the minors placed into CPS.

Avshalom, who is defending his father with two other siblings, said he has gone to a family court in Houston to try and get custody of the six younger brothers.

“I haven’t spoken with them since they were removed from our house,” he said. “I’m hoping in the near future I’ll have them back home.”

Cohen’s mother, Corina Lujan, 71, insisted that he would never abuse his adopted sons because it was his goal to “help kids that nobody wanted.”

“My son is innocent of the charges against him,’ she told the Mail. “He loves his children. He would never hurt them in any way.

“They were for the most part a big happy family who got along. This is all a big bad dream. I’m still in shock by it all.”

“Lujan also reiterated Avshalom’s claims that the son who made the initial allegations suffers from mental health issues.

“He can change his personality in a split second and go from talking in Chinese to doing high kicks with his legs in the air. He has some problems,” she said.

“And I think he’s convinced his younger siblings into believing they were molested by their father.”

Cohen’s brother, Eric Vejil, 33, agreed with their mother and called for medical records to be provided that would show whether the boys were victimized.

“If he sexually assaulted the young boys as prosecutors claim, they should have them medically examined,” he said.

“I’m sure that doctors could tell on a young boy whether or not there has been any sexual assault or damage to them.”

Prosecutors, however, said that behind Cohen’s bright, family-friendly online personality, there was “excessive abuse.””

“Prosecutors claimed that the father kept his kids locked in a room for most of the day, and would only let them out at 4 p.m. when he would sometimes force them to perform sex acts, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Harris County prosecutor Janna Oswald told the court that Cohen would pepper-spray one of the victims if he refused him.

The allegations from his six sons came as Cohen was still fighting a 2019 “indecency with a child” charge involving a then 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Spain.

According to court documents, the student had gotten caught for allegedly shoplifting socks at a Walmart, with Cohen instructing the boy to touch him to make up for it and then placing the minor’s hand on his penis.”

“Cohen was arrested and posted bail, and although his bond conditions prevented him from going within 1,000 feet of locations where children may be, he was not barred from raising his adopted kids.

The charges are still pending on the 2019 case, as is a civil lawsuit.

Cohen’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.”

Family of phony Hasidic dad accused of sexually abusing adopted sons defend him
[NY Post 3/14/23 by Ronny Reyes]

“Now, ABC13 is told five more sons have come forward saying they, too, were sexually abused. According to court paperwork, the 17-year-old says the abuse started when he was 11, including that Cohen made the brothers preform[sic] sex acts on him and each other.”

“The teen called into a podcast to talk about what happened and that started the investigation. He told the host that CPS had come to their house eight times, but after each visit Cohen would bribe the brothers or scare them. CPS says the boys have been removed from the house and can’t comment on their cases.”

“Court records also say the teen says everything Cohen does is fake, including using a wheelchair, which is how we’ve seen him in court.”

“Because of the new charges, it now must be determined what kind of hearings need to be held next. For example, Oswald said a number of the charges require an “11B hearing,” meaning that while Cohen was out on bond on the indecency with a child charge, he committed the other offenses.”

“Cohen remains at no bond until his next court date.”

Adoptive father of 9 accused of abusing sons faces 8 new charges in last 24 hours
[ABC13 2/24/23 by Courtney Fischer]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“Months after a 39-year-old man was charged with several counts of sexually abusing his adopted sons, his eldest son was also charged with sexual assault of a younger sibling.

Avshalom Cohen, 22, is charged in Harris County with two counts of sexual assault. Both counts list the same victim.

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

The abuse was discovered after one of the boys made an outcry to a podcaster in Atlanta, who then contacted local authorities.

In response, six out of nine of Hayim’s sons were taken into child protective services custody. The remaining three were over 18 years of age.

Avshalom Cohen has attended his father’s court hearings in his support in the past but has declined to speak with ABC13.

After entering CPS care, charging documents for Avshalom Cohen’s sexual assault cases say his alleged victim made an additional outcry of sexual abuse and named him as the one behind it.

The charge, filed on July 13, accuses him of sexually assaulting one of his brothers, who was reportedly 14 years old at the time. Court records say the misconduct occurred two or three times at the family’s home.

When Houston police went to pick him up on the warrant, a spokesperson for the department said they found a gun and two unlabeled pill bottles during a traffic stop. Avshalom Cohen was subsequently booked into the Fort Bend County Jail, where he remains.

His bond for both cases totaled $25,000. If he does post bond, he will be transferred to Harris County due to his open warrants.”

Son of father accused of sexually abusing adopted sons, charged with sexual assault of sibling: DOCS
[ABC 13 7/24/23 by Mycah Hatfield]

Update 2:“An adoptive father who was accused of sexually abusing his nine sons has pleaded guilty nearly two years after his arrest in north Harris County, according to court records.

Hayim Nissim Cohen entered into a guilty plea on Monday, April 7, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison with no parole on each of the four continuous sexual assault of a child charges. He was also sentenced to an additional 15 years for indecency with a child. The sentences will run concurrently.

Cohen was arrested back in February 2023 after his then 17-year-old son called into a podcast out of Atlanta using a burner phone and admitted to the abuse that he and his brothers faced at the hands of their father, according to court records.

During this time, Cohen had been out on bond for a 2019 case, where he was accused of having sexual contact with an exchange student from Spain who lived with him.

That student sued Cohen and the organization that placed him in his care.

It was also revealed that Child Protective Services conducted at least eight investigations into the family; however, nothing came out of them.

Five months after Cohen was arrested, his oldest son, 22-year-old Avshalom Cohen, was also arrested and charged with the sexual assault of one of his younger brothers, who was 14 years old at the time.

It was revealed that he had warrants out for his arrest in Harris County and Fort Bend when he was detained for an alleged smuggling persons case.”
Adoptive father found guilty of sexually abusing 9 sons, sentenced to 40 years in prison, docs say
[ABC 13 4/7/25 by Mycah Hatfield]