$300,000 Bail for Man Charged with Raping Young Girls [AUDIO]

32 year-old Joseph Michael Cohen of Billings was accused Friday in Missoula Justice Court of sexually assaulting two young girls from 2008 through 2010, and then threatening to kill them and their families if they told anyone. Cohen is charged with sexual assault, sexual intercourse without consent, assault on a minor, and tempering with witnesses and informants, all felonies.

Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg says the sexual assault and  sexual intercourse without consent charges alone carry a maximum penalty of 100 years in prison and a $50,000 fine, Cohen is accused of not only raping the two girls who were 4 to 8 years old at the time, but that he strangled one of the girls and threatened to shoot their parents if they revealed his actions. Cohen is in the Missoula County Jail on $300,000 bond.

Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg