The families of eight boys in Texas sued Little League Baseball Inc. this week, accusing the organization of enabling a coach to groom his players before sexually assaulting them for years.
Adam Isaacks, a coach and league president, and his wife Miranda Isaacks, an assistant coach, were also named defendants in the lawsuit. The Isaacks are accused of grooming the boys in their capacity with Little League Baseball in Jasper County, about 25 miles north of Beaumont, the suit filed Monday said.
The alleged victims and their families were not identified in the federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of Texas.
Adam Isaacks was arrested in December and charged with sexual assault of and indecency with minors, NBC affiliate KMBT in Beaumont reports. He is being held in the Jasper County Jail where his bonds total $6.5 million and include bonds for charges brought in both Jasper and Sabine County.
A representative of the Jasper County jail confirmed Isaacks remained there Wednesday afternoon. It was not immediately clear if he or his wife had legal representation. Attempts to reach Miranda Isaacks were unsuccessful.
“Plaintiffs are victims and survivors of childhood sexual assault, molestation and abuse at the hands of their Little League Baseball Coach and League President, Adam Isaacks,” the lawsuit states. “The abuse started when some minor Plaintiffs were just 7 and 8 years old and continued for a period of years until the age of 11 and 12.”
The suit alleges that the Isaacks were able to abuse their positions due to a lack of oversight and training by Little League Baseball.
“All such grooming occurred under the authority of Little League Baseball,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants failed to enforce safety precautions to guard against the foreseeable risk of sexual assault in the context of Little League Baseball. Defendants failed to comply with their duties and obligations to implement safety awareness, education and training to protect minor Plaintiffs.”
Little League Baseball said in a statement Tuesday it “is aware of the unfortunate allegations made involving a former volunteer … however, due to the pending litigation, it would be inappropriate for Little League International to offer any further comment on the situation at this time.”
The lawsuit lays out the alleged grooming process by Adam Isaaks and his wife to satisfy “his deviant gratification.”
“This grooming campaign included but was not limited to inviting the minor Plaintiffs to go on overnight trips and sleepovers with the coach, assistant coach Miranda … other team members, such as camping, riding recreational vehicles, and/or hunting trips with him.”
The Isaacks kept sex toys and pornography at their home and the hunting club, which they subjected children to, the suit said. Adam Isaacks sometimes also drugged or provided alcohol for the minors which rendered them unconscious, impaired or vulnerable during the attacks, the suit alleges.
The married couple also attempted to win over the children’s parents, the suit said. As an example, they paid to have pink jerseys made for each boy with the name of each boy’s mother on the back of the jersey, the suit said.
The suit said Little League Baseball is a “big business.” It highlighted a television contract with ESPN and ABC, which runs through 2022 and earns the organization more than $9 million annually.
Financial records also show that Little League Baseball reported more than $32 million dollars in revenue in 2018 and 2019 and more than $22 million dollars in 2020, which was affected by the pandemic, according to the lawsuit.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
