TEMECULA, CA — A Temecula man who did not stop his wife from abusing their two young foster children pleaded guilty Wednesday to false imprisonment and was immediately sentenced to 12 months probation.
Aaron Thomas Isaac, 48, admitted the misdemeanor charge under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped four related felony counts. In exchange for Isaac's guilty plea on Wednesday, prosecutors dropped four related felony counts that would have resulted in a lengthy prison term if he were found guilty on all charges.
Superior Court Judge Judith Clark certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense. No jail time was included in the agreement. However, Isaac will have to pay victim restitution, in an amount to be determined by the Department of Probation.
His wife, 45-year-old Yoko Yessica Isaac, pleaded guilty in April to torture and child abuse and was sentenced to 11 years, four months in state prison.
She was arrested in December 2019 following a sheriff's investigation that began after a 3-year-old girl whom she was fostering was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that authorities said had obviously been inflicted.
The investigation revealed Yoko Isaac had been physically and verbally abusing both the 3-year-old and her 11-year-old brother, neither of whom were identified, at her home in the 40100 block of Holden Circle, according to police and prosecutors.
The siblings were the only children in the defendant's care and were ultimately placed in the custody of county Department of Child Protective Services staff.
The exact details of the abuse were not contained in the criminal complaint. Aaron Isaac was arrested in a later stage of the investigation, and it was unclear how deeply involved he was in the children's treatment. He served in the military and has no documented prior felony convictions.
Aaron Isaac received 12 months probation on Wednesday, while his wife was sentenced earlier this year to more than 11 years behind bars.
