How Could You? Hall of Shame-Mack and Jaycee Doak

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Mobile, Alabama, adoptive parents Mack and Jaycee Doak “will go to prison for 40 and 10 years, respectively, for the sexual abuse of their three adopted children, a judge ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose sentenced Mack Doak to 40 years for transporting minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and aggravated sexual abuse. The judge sentenced Jaycee Doak to the mandatory-minimum of 10 years as aider and abettor.

Defense attorney Buzz Jordan, who represented Jaycee Doak, said his client received a more lenient sentence because her conduct was less egregious.

“At the court say, Jaycee didn’t rape any child,” he said.

The Doaks were living in Monroeville when police arrested them last year. A jury found them guilty of the federal charges in May.

According to court records, the couple moved the children from Butler, Alabama, to Florida and then to Thomasville, Alabama. They took one of the children from Monroeville to Cambodia in November 2017 and then back to Monroeville the following month.

The couple then took all three children to Rhode Island before returning to Monroeville in January 2018.

“In short, this case centers on three minor victims who were abused for years by their adoptive parents,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo arguing for life in prison.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Mack Doak started sexually abusing the children shortly after the adoption became final in Texas in 2013.

Three child victims testified that Mack Doak had sexually abused them in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Prosecutors also presented DNA evidence linking Mack Doak to one of the victims.

Prosecutors also presented evidence the Jaycee Doak refused to report her husband to authorities when she discovered the abuse and instead warned the children that it would break up the family if they did not keep quiet. Both defendants also physically and verbally abused the children, according to court documents.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sinan Kalayoglu and Kacey Chappelear argued in the sentencing document that life in prison was appropriate.

“Mack Doak repeatedly sexually abused these children, and Jaycee Doak created a household culture that facilitated and perpetuated that sexual abuse,” they wrote. “Her repeated cruelty, expressed through physical abuse and other efforts to suppress reporting of Mack Doak’s criminal behavior, underscores the need for a life sentence for both defendants.”

The judge previously had ordered the sale of the couple’s home in Texas. Proceeds received last month totaling $226,269 will be used for restitution.

Jordan, meanwhile, said he plans to appeal.

“In a jury case, anytime there’s a conviction, you automatically appeal it,” he said.”

Alabama husband, wife sentenced for the sexual abuse of their adopted children

[FOX 10 11/21/19 by Brendan Kirby]

REFORM Puzzle Piece