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A couple dozen spectators and interested parties congregated in U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone’s federal court June 3, there to witness sentencing of a former Little League president and coach that sexually abused several young boys from Southeast Texas over the course of several years. The case is not completely over, though, as a civil case against those alleged responsible for the many crimes committed to many victims over many years is still pending.
June 3, Adam Dale Isaacks, 40, of Hardin County, pleaded guilty to four counts of transporting a minor for purposes of sexual activity and was sentenced to 480 months (40 years) in federal prison. Isaacks, wearing a pale green jumpsuit, sat quietly during the sentencing. By accepting a plea agreement, he avoided a trial by jury.
Before sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Grove read letters from the mother of two of the victims, giving words to the “pain this monster has caused,” as quotes from the victim’s family. The mother grieved over the physical and mental pain her child suffered, along with the “loss of his innocence.”
“The results drove us to move away,” the mother’s words recounted of a child victim that went from being an A/B student to rebelling at home and struggling in school. “It’s changed our lives forever.”
“We all struggled.”
“At 47 years old,” one victim’s mother wrote, “I thought I knew what evil looked like.”
She saw true evil when looking at Isaacks’ crime, she concluded.
“It’s worse than any movie you’ll ever see,” she spoke through the prosecutor, adding a Bible verse for context from John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...”
Isaacks, the mother dismayed, caused more pain in her son than she had ever seen, and only a maximum penalty would save other families from the pain her family has endured.
“I do not believe Adam (Isaacks) should be a free man,” she stated. “Protect the next family by keeping him in prison.”
Information presented in court detailed a Dec. 13, 2021, visit by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office to an Evadale home in reference to a report of several sexual assaults. As the investigation progressed, Isaacks was arrested Dec. 30, 2021, after Sabine County Sheriff's Office deputies surrounded his camper at the Bear Creek Hunting Club in Pineland. Isaacks was charged with second-degree felony indecency with child/sexual contact and a $500,000 bond was set. Isaacks was transferred to Jasper County.
In January 2022, Isaacks’ Silsbee home was searched by law enforcement and bags of evidence were taken from his home as part of the investigation, which prompted a bond hike to $6.5 million.
Isaacks, a youth baseball coach, president of the Evadale Little League Baseball organization and a trusted member of the community, was reported to have sexually assaulted eight minor members of his baseball team. The boys were between 9 and 11 years old the time of the offenses.
Offenses allegedly occurred in Jasper County and Sabine County for which Isaacks still faces state-level charges. In March 2022, a Jasper County grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child still pending. The same month, a Sabine County grand jury accused Isaacks of three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
The investigation revealed instances where several minor victims were transported to other states by Isaacks and sexually abused.
In the federal indictment, a federal grand jury charged Isaacks with seven counts of transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, which included two trips each to Arkansas and Florida, and a trip each to Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma in 2020 and 2021. The trips were verified with records from airlines, credit card information, photos and witnesses, according to court records.
Still pending is a Feb. 28, 2022, civil suit in federal court launched by eight families (seven from Jasper County and one from Hardin County) against Isaacks, wife Miranda Lynn Dukes Isaacks, Little League Baseball, Inc., Texas District 12 Little League, Evadale Little League and Bear Creek Hunting Club, alleging victims suffered physical sickness, mental anguish and injuries due to sexual assaults inflicted at the hands of Isaacks.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs and minor plaintiffs are asking for an award of actual damages, consequential damages and punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and costs; and other and further relief in law or in equity to which may be justly entitled to receive.
As alleged in the civil lawsuit, Isaacks coached youth baseball teams, ages 6-12, from 2017 to 2021, with Miranda Isaacks serving as an assistant coach at practices and games. The couple also had a son who played baseball.
According to the lawsuit, the abuse started when the victims were 7 and 8 years old and the abuse continued until age 11 and 12.
Little League Baseball and District 12, specifically, the lawsuit alleges, “failed to comply with their own policies and procedures and failed to implement and enforce safety precautions against the foreseeable risk of sexual abuse in the context of Little League Baseball.” The lack of oversight, the lawsuit goes on to state, left Isaaks “to implement a scheme to groom and sexually abuse, molest and sexually assault young boys who participated in Evadale Little League Baseball over the course of four to five years.”
Behind the scenes
Isaacks’ arrest recorded in court failed to assert that the Little League coach committed further sexual assault of children during the time between Dec. 13, 2021, when law enforcement was called to investigate, and Dec. 30, 2021, when angry parents cornered Isaacks at the hunting lodge and police arrived to take charge of the alleged pedophile from the mob.
“Parents and family members of the abused Little Leaguers located Adam Isaacks hiding in a trailer located at the Bear Creek Hunting Club in Sabine County,” the civil suit recounts. “They surrounded the trailer and blocked escape routes until law enforcement officers from Sabine County took him into custody.”
Before he was the rabbit behind the gun, as spelled out in the civil suit, Isaacks was respected and revered for his position.
“The respect and stature granted to Adam Isaacks as coach, president, agent and vice president of Evadale Little League accorded him by Little League Baseball gave him the opportunity and means to entice and groom victims over numerous years,” the suit reads. If that wasn’t enough, the filings go on to state, Isaacks allegedly used the power of his position to encourage “emotional dependency” from his young victims, as well as “drugging them” when necessary.
Among the incidents, as filed in court, sexual assaults of the minor victims occurred, as facilitated by wife Miranda, at the Bear Creek hunting lodge, at the Isaacks’ home in Silsbee, at the lake, and on trips taken to Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Colorado. Special occasions were cover for abuse, too, the suit alleges. Trips such as those taken to watch the Atlanta Braves play in Atlanta, take hot springs dips in Arkansas, retreat from wi-fi in Boykin Springs, camp in Colorado and much more were cover for sexual abuse trips, the lawsuit details.
According to Kevin Fountain, the senior director of communication for Little League International (LLI), the organization cannot comment on the specific details of the resolution of this matter, as it is confidential due to a court order.
But, Fountain stated, starting this season, there are two key enhancements to LLI’s Child Protection Program to help in continued evolution and commitment to player safety.
The first is enhanced background checks, utilizing a more robust product that features a higher level of protection from its partner, J.D. Palatine (JDP). The second enhancement is required abuse awareness training for adults. Training will be a required part of the annual volunteer application, along with the annual background check.
The training must be completed before any individual can assume any duties for the season, including district administrators and assistant district administrators.