JASPER COUNTY, Texas — A legal expert explained the challenges that the defense and prosecution will face regarding the case against 38-year-old Adam Isaacks.
The former president and head coach of the Evadale Little League was formally indicted on three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a young child on Tuesday in Sabine County. Indictment documents allege continuous abuse against three different children all under the age of 14 in 2020 and 2021.
“Well, my understanding is there were a number of different complainants, and so it took a while to investigate all of the different allegations,” defense attorney Ryan Gertz said.
Gertz is not connected to the case involving Isaacks. However, his legal knowledge as a defense attorney allowed him to explain the challenges that both the prosecution and defense will face.
A total of eight alleged victims and their families are suing Isaacks and the National Little League Organization. That case will play out separately from the criminal one.
“But these cases are hard because often times there's no physical evidence to support it, and so you've got to go out, investigators have to go out and find specific evidence to support whatever, you know, a complainant is telling them,” Gertz said.
He said having several alleged victims can make the case tricky for both sides.
"Particularly when there's allegations by multiple complainants, that's a very difficult case to defend, but it's also very difficult to prosecute,” Gertz said.
Chief Deputy Scotty Duncan said the investigation into the case began in December of 2021, when a child in Jasper County told his parents about an alleged incident.
Following an investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Isaacks. Isaacks was arrested on Dec. 30, 2021.
In early January of 2022, Isaacks' Silsbee home was searched by law enforcement. Bags of evidence were taken out of his home as part of the investigation.
Isaacks was taken to the Jasper County Jail in early January 2022, where he was charged with one count of indecency with a child. At that time, his bond was set at $500,000.
His bond was later raised to $1 million for that charge. An additional charge of continuous sex abuse of a child from Jasper County raised his bond to $5 million in the county.
Isaacks was then charged with three counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child in Sabine County. Altogether he currently faces five different charges, which could mean as many as five victims are involved.
Isaacks is currently being held in the Jasper County Jail on bonds totaling $6.5 million, according to jail records.
A Beaumont law firm filed what they described as a "historic federal sex abuse case" against Isaacks.
In late February of 2022, the Bernsen Law Firm announced that eight plaintiffs and their families have filed a lawsuit against Little League Baseball, Inc., Texas District 12 Little League and Evadale Little League in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs are victims and survivors of childhood sexual assault, molestation and abuse at the hands of Isaacks. The lawsuit claims Isaacks chose his victims from his Evadale Little League baseball roster and "fully exploited the position of authority bestowed upon him" by the Little League Baseball institution.
12News reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for comment regarding the case but did not hear back in time for this article's publication.
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