Case against Tilden man accused of sexually assaulting two girls heads to district court

MADISON, Neb. -- The case against a northeast Nebraska man accused of sexually assaulting two children is headed to district court.

40-year-old Patrick Cowling of Tilden waived his preliminary hearing in Madison County Court on Monday.

Cowling faces two felony counts of sexual assault of a child. Investigators say in court documents that the assaults began on two girls. Investigators say the alleged assaults began in 2018, when the girls were 13 and nine years of age, and they are alleged to have continued for approximately three years.

If convicted, Cowling faces up to life in prison.

He is expected to enter a plea when he's arraigned in district court in Madison on May 11.