Phila. man charged with soliciting teen sex

A Philadelphia musician has been arrested for attempting to meet an underage boy for sex, officials announced Friday.

Charles L. Cohen, 70, communicated online with someone whom he believed was a 14-year-old boy, police said. But it was an undercover detective in Montgomery County.

Cohen arranged a meeting the afternoon of Sept. 28 in Upper Providence Township.

"Cohen's proposed purpose for this meeting was for him to perform oral sex on the boy and vice versa," District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Friday in an announcement of Cohen's arrest.

When Cohen arrived at the meeting place, police were there to arrest him.

Cohen, of Center City, is an electronic musician who received a Pew Fellowship for the Arts in 2011 and was scheduled to play on tour in London this week.

Cohen plays the Buchla Music Easel, a synthesizer, and in media interviews has described his sound as "beeps and boops."

He is now charged with criminal attempt of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a child, unlawful contact with a minor, and criminal use of a communication facility.

Cohen has been held at Montgomery County jail since his arrest. He was unable to post his $100,000 cash bail. He is next scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
- Laura McCrystal