JOIN US MAY 20-21 FOR RESTORE CONFERENCE

Mary
DeMuth

Scot
McKnight

Screenshot 2023-01-13 at 1.50.18 PM

Naghmeh
Panahi

Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

Former Delaware Pastor Found Liable for Child Sexual Abuse

By Associated Press
Ronald Cohen Delaware
Richard Cohen, a former pastor of a Delaware church, was found liable of child sex abuse by a federal jury on Friday. (Video screengrab / YouTube)

A woman who said her father, a former pastor of a Delaware church, sexually abused her as a child and trafficked her to other men, was awarded $1.5 million by a federal jury on Friday.

Alicia Cohen, 41, said in her civil lawsuit that Ronald Cohen began sexually abusing her when she was three years old at the family home in Newark, then started selling her to other men for sex about two years later, when they were living in Oklahoma.

She also said her father filmed and sold videos of her being raped and used his “religious facade” and “ministries,” including the nondenominational Miracle Tabernacle, as a cover for child sexual abuse and child sex trafficking.

Ronald Cohen, who has also used the names “Rafi” and “Raphael,” has denied the claims as “false, frivolous, and defamatory.”

“Ron was shocked at the verdict,” defense attorney Dan Boyce said Friday. Boyce said Cohen has asked him to file a motion for judgment in his favor, despite the jury verdict, or a motion for a new trial.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Hurt and Healed by the Church” by Ryan George. To donate, click here.

He also said Cohen, who now lives in North Carolina, is in his 70s and depends on Social Security, and that he is “judgment proof” based on his finances.

Alicia Cohen’s attorney, Dan Stephenson, said the case was not about money, but about holding Ronald Cohen accountable.

“The central issue in the case was whether the defendant raped his daughter repeatedly for years as a child. The jury clearly said ‘yes’ and awarded both compensatory and punitive damages,” Stephenson said in an email.

According to the lawsuit, Alicia Cohen repressed the memories of her abuse for years.

“Due to the actions of defendant, plaintiff has suffered extreme mental, physical, psychological, and emotional trauma,” the lawsuit states. “She has spent an enormous amount of time and money seeing doctors, psychiatrists, counselors, and other therapists.”

The Roys Report does not typically name people who say they have been victims of sexual abuse, unless they go public, as Alicia Cohen did.

The seven-member jury found Ronald Cohen liable, by a preponderance of the evidence, for various offenses under Delaware law, including incest, sexual extortion and continuous sexual abuse of a child. They also found him liable under Delaware law for assault or battery, infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.

But the jury ruled in Ronald Cohen’s favor regarding allegations of human trafficking under federal law and the state laws of Delaware, New Jersey and Florida. They also ruled in his favor regarding various other alleged offenses under federal, Florida and New Jersey law.

“There was no direct or circumstantial evidence that supported her allegations,” Boyce said, adding that the plaintiff’s case relied on experts who “hypothesized” that she had certain characteristics of having been sexually abused.

Boyce also said the judge refused to allow an expert defense witness to offer an opinion that Alicia Cohen’s memories from 30 years ago were false.

Stephenson, the attorney for Alicia Cohen, rejected the notion that it was a “he said-she said” case.

“We brought a mountain of evidence including objective, medical, and admitted facts,” he said. “We had treaters, treater records, and expert witnesses supporting what Alicia said.”

SHARE THIS:

GET EMAIL UPDATES!

Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox!

Don’t worry we won’t spam you.

More to explore
discussion

Leave a Reply

The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Toward that end, the site requires that people register before they begin commenting. This means no anonymous comments will be allowed. Also, any comments with profanity, name-calling, and/or a nasty tone will be deleted.
 
MOST RECENT Articles
MOST popular articles
en_USEnglish

Donate

Hi. We see this is the third article this month you’ve found worth reading. Great! Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church?

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of “Hurt and Healed by the Church” by Ryan George.