Schaap wants out!

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In today's NWI Times: 

Here we go again!

HAMMOND | An attorney for a former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond filed a motion Tuesday asking a federal judge to overturn his client's 12-year prison sentence for sex with a teenage parishioner.

Jack Schaap, 56, was sentenced in March 2013 during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Hammond. He pleaded guilty in September 2012 to having the then-17-year-old girl transported to Illinois and Michigan for sexual encounters.

In a motion to vacate, correct or set aside Schaap's sentence, Florida lawyer Charles Murray says Schaap's defense attorneys provided ineffective counsel.

Schaap laid out a similar argument in a March letter to U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano. At the time, Schaap was acting as his own attorney and requested more time to hire an attorney to help him seek post-conviction relief.

Schaap was represented by Merrillville attorneys Paul Stracci and Alison Benjamin, of Thiros and Stracci. Stracci did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the motion, Schaap's defense attorneys falsely represented to him that he would receive a sentence of between 18 months and 10 years.

Lozano sentenced Schaap above the 10 years recommended by prosecutors and agreed upon by the former pastor's attorneys.

At the hearing, Lozano said he thought the sentence was appropriate. He referenced a six-hour staff meeting the pastor called after his conduct with the girl came into question where he denied any wrongdoing and talked about loyalty. Lozano also referenced a staff member, who was fired after bringing evidence of Schaap's relationship with the girl to light.

Schaap also claims his attorneys failed to introduce mitigating factors at sentencing such as the teen's "extensive sexual experience" and "sexually aggressive" behavior toward Schaap.

The motion says Schaap was counseling the girl, who had been expelled from Hammond Baptist Schools after being caught having sex with a male student. Legal papers filed by prosecutors indicate Schaap was asked to counsel the girl because she was having issues coping with a past relationship.

At his sentencing, Schaap addressed the girl and her family. He told them he loved being their pastor for 12 years, but acknowledged his misconduct. Schaap asked for the family's forgiveness — not because he deserved it, but because he worried bitterness would cause more pain, he said.

Schaap also claims Lozano failed to understand he could vary from sentencing guidelines and the ex-pastor's defense attorneys subsequently failed to raise any objections.

 
Right when you think you've seen it all............God help us!! I'm going to ask my friend a lawyer if he could ever get out early.
 
So glad this is out in the local paper, for all to see and revile. (not)  :o

Someone (I think it was on these boards?) made the point that even if she was the temptress, (which she was not) didn't Joseph face the same situation and didn't he run from Potipher's wife?

But Schaap manipulated, used, and abused this girl. Pure and simple. Anyone with a brain can see that...which might be why he can't seem to see it. His brain is located somewhere below the belt, which is why he throws low blows at others -- the girl, the lawyer, the judge...

 
All criminals want out.
 
He has nothing better to do then sit all day and read how to try to get out... He will use all of his appeals, and cost the taxpayers lots of $$$ in doing so.

Of course I would wan tout if this happened to me (pretty good chance it has happened to him)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlPQJ7qIyyQ
 
HAMMOND | A former minister of First Baptist Church of Hammond is gambling he can get out of prison by branding as a seductress the underage girl he molested.

Jack A. Schaap, 56, is asking a federal judge to overturn his 12-year sentence "due to the aggressiveness of (the girl) that inhibited impulse control ..."

It is a risky strategy that may backfire with U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano, who sentenced Schaap last year and would hear the new petition, according to veteran local defense attorneys.

"Judge Lozano may give him more time," said one lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous.

Schaap pleaded guilty to transporting a female student of the church's high school to Illinois and Michigan for sexual encounters. He also had sex with her in his church office here in June and July 2012.

He is being held in the Federal Correctional Institute in Ashland, Ky., and he isn't eligible for release until April 20, 2023.

His sentence was two years above the penalty agreed to by the U.S. attorney's office and Schaap's lawyer at the time, Paul Stracci, of Merrillville. The judge wasn't bound by that or the recommended sentencing guideline in the case, which ranged above 17 years.

Nevertheless, Schaap's attorney, Charles Murray, of Bonita Springs, Fla., has filed a court memorandum asking to present new evidence and portraying the girl, who was age 16 at the beginning of her sexual encounters with Schaap, as having "had prior extensive sexual experience" in addition to using alcohol and marijuana.

Murray argues, "No doubt exists that (Schaap) should have resisted (her) advances, but (Schaap) submits his actions did not serve to destroy (her) in the manner that often occurs when underage individuals are victimized."

Schaap's new pleading doesn't sit well with his former megachurch.

"We stand with the court on the judgment," Ed Lapina, First Baptist's administrative pastor, said Tuesday. "We felt the court was very fair and just in its judgment.

Lapina said he wanted to clear up false rumors circulating last year that the victim's family, longtime church members, were told to stay away from church services.

"That is basically Facebook folklore. They are as welcome here as I am. They have chosen not to come back. We are fine with that, but the church has no animosity toward them. I wrote them a letter of apology a few months ago.

"The girl was a troubled girl. Her past was a tough past. She came here for help and that should have been our goal. It should have been (Schaap's) goal. That didn't end up happening, and so he is taking responsibility for that now with his prison term," Lapina said.

Stracci, Schaap's former attorney, declined comment Tuesday on the new petition. Neither Murray nor the U.S. attorney's office returned calls seeking comment.

Schaap's memorandum is in sharp contrast with earlier comments he was pleading guilty to spare his victim the trauma of a public trial and that he should be blamed for the crime, not others.

Schaap, a married man with two children, was pastor of a church that had the loyalty of 15,000 members. The victim's parents told the court they believed their daughter was safe going to the church and its schools, which she had done since kindergarten.

The father is quoted in a court document stating, "The rule of our house was that the pastor was God's representative on Earth. Always do what the pastor says."

The government stated the girl was referred to Schaap by a school administrator after she had trouble coping with a troubled relationship with a younger man.

The girl wrote in her victim impact statement, "I was raised by my parents and teachers to trust and obey my pastor. He was a celebrity to me, a father figure and a man of God. As my pastor, I sought guidance and counseling from (Schaap) when I was in need of help."

Federal authorities said their private counseling sessions increased in number, length and intimacy.

The girl wrote, "(Schaap) violated my trust. But when it was being violated, I didn't even know it because he made me believe what we were doing was OK and right in the eyes of God. When I asked him if it was wrong, he told me no and that I was his precious gift from God. I felt so special when he texted me from the holy altar during his sermons."

The government said they texted each other 637 times during the month before a member of Schaap's staff discovered incriminating photographs of the two, church officials fired him and called in authorities.

Jill Koster, assistant U.S. attorney in the case, said in a sentencing memorandum last year, "The government submits that any 16- to 17-year-old girl placed in the victim's vulnerable shoes and showered with attention and affection from (Schaap) whom she practically been taught to worship would have ended up in exactly the same position as the victim in this case, in love with (Schaap), the ultimate hypocrite."

Lozano on Tuesday gave the U.S. attorney's office until July 3 to file its response. Schaap will then have until Aug. 4 to file any reply to prosecutors' response.

 
Indications are Lazano is a born again Christian man who extremely dislikes pride and the lack of contrite heart.  I have seen other sentences handed down and he is merciful on those who come with humility and contriteness and those who come with pride and excuses are dealt with harshly.


There is such extreme narcissism here I think it borders on mental illness, not as an excuse but perhaps proof of a thumbprint of God Himself.  God will not share His glory with any man.


 
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Luke 17:2
 
TidesofTruth said:
There is such extreme narcissism here I think it borders on mental illness, not as an excuse but perhaps proof of a thumbprint of God Himself.  God will not share His glory with any man.
Click to expand...

+
 
Anybody else see a problem with Eddie's quote to the press?

"I wrote her an apology letter a couple months ago."  WHAT!?!  It took you how long to recognize that her church that you were guiding had mistreated and hurt her?  WHAT!?!  Too little too late, buddy.

"The girl didn't get help.......so he is taking responsibility for that now with his prison term."  NO!  He is being punished for his acts as a sexual predator in three states, including the transportation of a minor across state lines for use as a victim of statutory rape.  He is obviously not taking responsibility for any of his actions.  He is claiming that the girl was so experienced in her sexuality that it was physically impossible for him to not ask his secretary to drive the victim to another state where he would meet her for a sexual rendezvous.

Eddie, you are a moron.  Stop pretending that everything's alright in your father's house.  It isn't.  People have not yet accepted responsibility for their sin which is necessary for repentance which must occur before their can be reconciliation with God or others.
 
I have a friend who is friends with the girl's family. They say they have NOT received a letter from ELapina. It then occurred to me that he may not be lying. He may very well have WRITTEN a letter -- but he never said he SENT it!  :o
 
Let me ask a question here that is slightly off topic. How in the world does schaap have a girlfriend already? I mean we just saw him in the last two years walking up the steps of the courthouse hand-in-hand with Cindy and a 60# KJV in the other hand, talking, laughing, etc. like I got this all under control. The next thing we know he is sentenced and hauled away without ever going back home. Now he had a girlfriend? Did he have her before? Where did he find her? Is that all he has to think about? Out with the old and in with the new? On to the next stage of life?

Is anyone else as perplexed about this as I am?
 
BALAAM said:
Let me ask a question here that is slightly off topic. How in the world does schaap have a girlfriend already? I mean we just saw him in the last two years walking up the steps of the courthouse hand-in-hand with Cindy and a 60# KJV in the other hand, talking, laughing, etc. like I got this all under control. The next thing we know he is sentenced and hauled away without ever going back home. Now he had a girlfriend? Did he have her before? Where did he find her? Is that all he has to think about? Out with the old and in with the new? On to the next stage of life?

Is anyone else as perplexed about this as I am?
Click to expand...

Did I miss something? What girlfriend?
 
Bravo said:
BALAAM said:
Let me ask a question here that is slightly off topic. How in the world does schaap have a girlfriend already? I mean we just saw him in the last two years walking up the steps of the courthouse hand-in-hand with Cindy and a 60# KJV in the other hand, talking, laughing, etc. like I got this all under control. The next thing we know he is sentenced and hauled away without ever going back home. Now he had a girlfriend? Did he have her before? Where did he find her? Is that all he has to think about? Out with the old and in with the new? On to the next stage of life?

Is anyone else as perplexed about this as I am?
Click to expand...

Did I miss something? What girlfriend?
Click to expand...

Jerry Kaifetz and a couple of other folks have said it was reported that schaap has had a fairly regular female visitor. I guess I just assumed that if that were true it would be a girlfriend. But, who knows.
 
BALAAM said:
Bravo said:
BALAAM said:
Let me ask a question here that is slightly off topic. How in the world does schaap have a girlfriend already? I mean we just saw him in the last two years walking up the steps of the courthouse hand-in-hand with Cindy and a 60# KJV in the other hand, talking, laughing, etc. like I got this all under control. The next thing we know he is sentenced and hauled away without ever going back home. Now he had a girlfriend? Did he have her before? Where did he find her? Is that all he has to think about? Out with the old and in with the new? On to the next stage of life?

Is anyone else as perplexed about this as I am?
Click to expand...

Did I miss something? What girlfriend?
Click to expand...

Jerry Kaifetz and a couple of other folks have said it was reported that schaap has had a fairly regular female visitor. I guess I just assumed that if that were true it would be a girlfriend. But, who knows.
Click to expand...

It's another Silence of the Lambs!!!
 
Out of curiosity, has Schaaps buddies Larry Brown and Tony Hutson (cronies/disciples of Jack Hyles) came to visit him?
 
Regarding ELapina's comments, I find it interesting how brave Eddie can be while Schaap stays behind bars.  I would have to imagine that he would be throwing out back-tracking comments and shaking in his boots should Schaap be set free.
 
Ev said:
Regarding ELapina's comments, I find it interesting how brave Eddie can be while Schaap stays behind bars.  I would have to imagine that he would be throwing out back-tracking comments and shaking in his boots should Schaap be set free.
Click to expand...
Really?  Do you think Schaap is really man enough to do anything?  Not my perception of him whatsoever.  Definitely has small man disease.
 
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