A former high school basketball coach from Alabama, once praised as an exemplary figure for youth, now faces serious allegations involving inappropriate conduct with a student.
On Tuesday, 35-year-old Paige Adams was taken into custody following a grand jury’s decision to indict her on over 30 charges related to sexual misconduct. This development occurred shortly after she stepped down from her position at Cold Springs High School, triggered by a complaint lodged with school authorities.
The accusations against Adams include the distribution of obscene material to a student, engaging in sexual contact with a student under 19, and participating in a deviant sexual act as a school employee, according to CBS42.
“The 32-count indictment handed down by the grand jury is quite telling,” Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker stated to the press.
Details regarding the student’s age during the alleged incidents involving Adams remain unclear at this time.
It was not immediately clear how old the student was at the time of Adams’ alleged misconduct.
Adams led the school’s girls basketball team for one season. Her husband, Drew, who filed for divorce after her resignation, coaches the boys team. During her lone season as coach, Adams led the team to a 23–11 record, winning the area championship and appearing in the AHSAA Final Four.
She was once lauded by Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette as “a great role model for the young people of Cullman County,” 1819 News reported.
A view of Cold Springs High School in Bremen, Ala. (Google Maps)
“This is the first formal complaint I have received regarding this employee,” Barnette said in a statement posted to social media. “As soon as the concern was brought forward, an investigation was immediately initiated. The employee chose to resign at that time.”
In 2017, Adams left Holly Pond High School, another school in the same district, after just one season, 1819 News reported. The reason for her departure was not specified.
“It was definitely hard,” she said. “I prayed about it a lot, and I felt like God was leading me in a different direction that I plan on pursuing. You have to do what’s best for you and your family sometimes,” Adams said after that resignation.
Adams and her husband have been married for 15 years.
A Cullman County Sheriff’s Office vehicle outside the sheriff’s building. (Cullman County Sheriff’s Office)
Adams was released from jail after posting a $225,000 bond but is required to wear an electronic monitoring device, local media reported.
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