Man charged with having sex with 14-year-old runaway

A 32-year-old Great Falls man is facing a felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent after he allegedly had sex last year with a 14-year-old girl who had run away from Columbia Falls.

Justin Cohn faces a prison sentence from 4 to 100 years or life and a fine up to $50,000. It is illegal for an adult to have sex with a person under 16 years of age, and Cohn was more than four years older than the girl involved in the case.

According to court documents from Cascade County District Court, Great Falls police responded to the Central Motel on July 28, 2011, for a report of two males threatening to assault a third man. The 14-year-old girl was in a motel room with the third man.

Officers located the two men hiding in a utility closet. They told officers the girl in the motel room was a juvenile runaway and that they came to confront the third man and prevent him from having sex with the girl. They said the third man knew the girl’s age. One of the two men, Cohn, said he saw the girl naked from the waist down through the motel room window.

When questioned by officers, the girl was initially hesitant to speak. But when informed of what Cohn had told them outside, she commented, “Well, none of these guys are innocent.”

The girl told officers she ran away from her home in Columbia Falls about two weeks earlier and went to Bozeman to find a friend. The friend, however, lived in Great Falls and put the girl in contact with Cohn, who arranged bus transportation for the girl.

The girl said she stayed the first night in Great Falls with Cohn. She said she initially told him she was 17 years old. Cohn allegedly took the girl to Spoons Bar, where they had sexual intercourse in the restroom. The girl later told Cohn she was actually 14 years old, and Cohn had sexual intercourse with her again at his residence.

Cohn made an initial appearance in court on May 31. His bond was set at $50,000.