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WARNING: This article discusses child abuse and may be upsetting to some readers.
For decades, their cries went unheard, but in a moment of long-awaited justice, five brothers stood together as their “sadistic” father was finally sentenced for the historic abuse that scarred their childhoods and haunted their lives.
William Thomas Cohen, 68, pleaded not guilty to 38 historical abuse charges in February 2022 and went to trial in June this year. He was found guilty of 18 of those charges by a jury.
Throughout the three-week trial, the court heard how Cohen subjected his five sons to physical and psychological abuse for more than a decade between 1988 and 1999 and at various locations including Feilding, Himatangi Beach and Te Kōpuru.
William Cohen was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court for the abuse of his five sons. Photo / Shannon Pitman
Examples included lining them up the day after the 1990 Aramoana massacre and threatening to shoot them, beating and strangling them and firing shots over their heads as they ran for cover.
The incidents were so brutal that the boys were left with long-lasting impacts well into their adult years, some of which they shared with their father at his sentencing in the Whangārei District Court.
“As a kid, I remember feeling inferior to others, as if I had some secret to hide. I’ve always been unsettled, with more than 40 jobs and 50 houses.
“What you did to us Bill was mean, when I look back, I still hate you,” one son said as he read his victim impact statement.
“All you passed on was unhealthy habits and bad memories.”
Another said his father was a narcissistic, angry person and it was now his turn to sit and listen.
“All this will mean nothing to you, when I was going through a rough time as a teenager your typical narcissistic response was ‘How will this look to you?’
”You’ll be sitting there feeling sorry for yourself, making yourself the victim. You won’t even be listening, you’ll be just wanting to have your say.”
He said he had lived a life of feeling constantly inadequate and when he spoke out as a child and no one listened to him, he felt worthless.
But the day he heard his father was being held in custody was one he would never forget.
“To be finally heard and acknowledged for the pain and suffering you put me through. To experience a sense of justice has enabled me to process the hurt.”
A third son said in his victim impact statement that having children pushed him to confront his trauma and come forward so his children could see that justice can work.
Mind games
The brothers were originally placed in state care after their parents separated before returning to the full-time care of their father.
At trial, Cohen’s defence was it was a different time and he was under financial stress with no support looking after five boys whom he’d previously described as like “herding cats”.
The boys endured multiple beatings over the years with jug cords over the knuckles for getting times tables wrong, having their heads held under cold water gasping for breath, being strangled until passing out and several terrifying incidents that involved guns.
On one occasion he gave the boys a countdown to run and as they did he fired shots above their heads. One of the victims described feeling like they were running so hard, that their feet were not touching the ground.
They hid in the bush for hours until it was dark and only returned when Cohen finally found them and told them he would not hurt them.
On another occasion, he lined all five boys up the day after the Aramoana shooting and threatened to do the same to them, but said he’d only need one bullet.
"No one is able to erase the ongoing harm you have caused your sons," Judge Bayley said. Photo / 123RF
He allegedly told them to keep their heads still before leaving the room to get a rifle and returning saying: “I’m going to f****** do it! Say goodbye to each other!”.
The ordeal was estimated to have gone on for at least an hour before he told the boys “I’m just playing mind games with you.”
The eldest son recalled the worst hiding he ever received was being thrown around a cabin by his father so hard, his ear ruptured while his father called him a “pussy” amongst other derogatory terms. Cohen also smashed the boy’s much-loved guitar that had been gifted to him.
Despite one boy running away and social welfare being aware things were not right in the Cohen home, no government services intervened.
Living in terror
Judge Taryn Bayley said she did not accept Cohen had no support nor that the 80s was a time when children were disciplined.
“You had extended family, opportunity for respite and had a good relationship with your family lawyer at the time. You remarried and had the support of a partner. None of these acts constituted parental discipline. There is no basis to accept that type of behaviour was more acceptable then than in the current time.”
Judge Bayley said the boys were defenceless, isolated and living in terror believing their father would carry out the threats to kill.
“They did not know in that moment if they were going to live or they were going to die.
“It was cruel and added to their terror. This was, of any view, sadistic behaviour. I cannot summarise the lasting emotional harm you have caused. It is immeasurable.”
Judge Bayley said Cohen continues to accept no responsibility and the intolerance of violence towards children must be recognised.
“No one is able to erase the ongoing harm you have caused your sons,” Judge Bayley said.
Cohen was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
