Schaap's sentencing delayed

[Ransom]

Excellent. They threw the book at him.

Good @#$% riddance to this sub-human debris.

 

[Sherryh]

Justice was done..........sin has deep and long consequences. My prayer is for Cindy and his children.

 

[FreeToBeMe]

Justice was done..........sin has deep and long consequences. My prayer is for Cindy and his children.

...and his other victims.  Known and unknown.

 

[bruinboy]

My prayers are with the victims of this scumbag and their families.  I don't understand how he ever gets out of jail.  Sadly, he probably will live long enough that he will.

 

[T-Bone]

About says it all...

"Rather than stress, exhaustion, depression or medical maladies... the findings of the government's investigation suggest that it was lust, hubris and poor judgment that prompted defendant's much-deserved fall from grace," prosecutors wrote.

 

[Just John]

About says it all...

"Rather than stress, exhaustion, depression or medical maladies... the findings of the government's investigation suggest that it was lust, hubris and poor judgment that prompted defendant's much-deserved fall from grace," prosecutors wrote.

Yes, I wonder if such claims and large amounts of "supportive" letters just added to the two extra years added on to the minimum 10 year term.

 

[abp]

About says it all...

"Rather than stress, exhaustion, depression or medical maladies... the findings of the government's investigation suggest that it was lust, hubris and poor judgment that prompted defendant's much-deserved fall from grace," prosecutors wrote.

Yes, I wonder if such claims and large amounts of "supportive" letters just added to the two extra years added on to the minimum 10 year term.

In this article it seems Schaaps attempts to cover up, hide and lie about his crime was partly what got him the extra 2 years. http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/18982908-418/disgraced-baptist-pastor-please-dont-blame-my-victim-or-her-family.html

 

[JrChurch]

Justice was upheld in that court.  The perp will have hours, days, weeks and years to wallow in his disgrace.

 

[christundivided]

I haven't keep track of everything going in the case but this is the first time I've read the following...

When a church technology employee finally found photos of Schaap with the victim, he told another church employee, who then approached Schaap

 

[qwerty]

Will preface this with the statement that I do not condone anything that Schaap did....

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation.

It is good that this was not a drawn out legal issue, although it would have been interesting to see what the outcome would have been if they let this go to trial.  Prosecuting someone for something that is is legal and not prosecutable in the state where both parties reside but against the law in another state would be interesting case law. 

As I said in the other forum, there has to be more to the story and I wish that everyone would be forthcoming with what was going on, especially for the sake of the membership of the church.  They deserve some answers with regards to where the money went, especially the millions that DeCoster gave to the church.  I think the deacons need to take a big mea culpa before their members with not doing their due diligence and letting one man run rampant.

There is a lot of blame to go around, most of it being with Schaap of course, but something like this would not have gone unnoticed for so long if it was any other business.

 

[rsc2a]

Will preface this with the statement that I do not condone anything that Schaap did....

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation...

I fail to see the problem here.

 

[qwerty]

Will preface this with the statement that I do not condone anything that Schaap did....

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation...

I fail to see the problem here.

A person gets drunk and runs over someone and kills them, it falls under that statute.  This person took the life of an 8 year old child because of his own actions but because of the way the law is written he will most likely receive less than 10 year, (5 is the average in the county).

Guess some folks have no problem with that.

 

[rsc2a]

Will preface this with the statement that I do not condone anything that Schaap did....

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation...

I fail to see the problem here.

A person gets drunk and runs over someone and kills them, it falls under that statute.  This person took the life of an 8 year old child because of his own actions but because of the way the law is written he will most likely receive less than 10 year, (5 is the average in the county).

Guess some folks have no problem with that.

Not necessarily. They can be charged to a higher degree

(And this coming from someone who lost a 16-yr old sibling to a drunk driver, a drunk driver that was convicted and served time for a greater charge than vehicular homicide, although that's what the driver was hoping for.)

 

[qwerty]

Will preface this with the statement that I do not condone anything that Schaap did....

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation...

I fail to see the problem here.

A person gets drunk and runs over someone and kills them, it falls under that statute.  This person took the life of an 8 year old child because of his own actions but because of the way the law is written he will most likely receive less than 10 year, (5 is the average in the county).

Guess some folks have no problem with that.

Not necessarily. They can be charged to a higher degree

(And this coming from someone who lost a 16-yr old sibling to a drunk driver, a drunk driver that was convicted and served time for a greater charge than vehicular homicide, although that's what the driver was hoping for.)

Again, Indiana IC Code is very specific with regards to killing someone while driving drunk.  It is only a C felony if there is not a prior conviction with a maximum of 8 years.  There is NO vehicular homicide statute in Indiana.

 

[FreeToBeMe]

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation.

I see where you're coming from, but Schaap was convicted under federal law.  If he had not transported his victim across state lines, the charge(s) against him would be different and the sentence much less. 

Not saying it's fair, and perhaps if there was a federal law governing vehicular homicide, the sentence would be stiffer.  Then again, states such as Minnesota have very stiff penalties for vehicular homicide associated with DUI.  Offenders can be sentenced up to 30 years in that state.

 

[FreeToBeMe]

Again, Indiana IC Code is very specific with regards to killing someone while driving drunk.  It is only a C felony if there is not a prior conviction with a maximum of 8 years.  There is NO vehicular homicide statute in Indiana.

It also depends on the blood alcohol content (BAC) in that state.  A BAC greater than .15 is considered a Class B felony for drunk driving vehicular homicide with a sentence of 6 - 20 years no matter if it's a first offense or not.

 

[rsc2a]

Again, Indiana IC Code is very specific with regards to killing someone while driving drunk.  It is only a C felony if there is not a prior conviction with a maximum of 8 years.  There is NO vehicular homicide statute in Indiana.

It also depends on the blood alcohol content (BAC) in that state.  A BAC greater than .15 is considered a Class B felony for drunk driving vehicular homicide with a sentence of 6 - 20 years no matter if it's a first offense or not.

I was going to make this point before the forum blew up. Also, qwerty was talking about how it was indicative of a problem across the nation, not in a single state.

 

[qwerty]

That being said, this has been interesting to watch from a legal standpoint.  In relation to other sentences in the area, it is a bit steep.  I have a case for vehicular homicide (which falls under involuntary manslaughter) where the guy wont see 10 years.  It goes to show the problems with the legal system in our nation.

I see where you're coming from, but Schaap was convicted under federal law.  If he had not transported his victim across state lines, the charge(s) against him would be different and the sentence much less. 

Not saying it's fair, and perhaps if there was a federal law governing vehicular homicide, the sentence would be stiffer.  Then again, states such as Minnesota have very stiff penalties for vehicular homicide associated with DUI.  Offenders can be sentenced up to 30 years in that state.

The forum is in a death spiral......

The B felony maxes out at 20 years, but that is about where our A felonies are hitting in Lake County.

The federal argument is what would have made it interesting.  In Indiana, he was not able to be prosecuted because there was not a specific law violated.  The use of a federal court is sometimes a quandary; in Indiana a 16 year old can have a consensual relationship with a 27 year old, marry, and have children.  If they take a trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan, is that constitute the transportation of a minor across state lines? A minor is anyone under the age or 18 in both states.

 

[abp]

Prosecuting someone for something that is is legal and not prosecutable in the state where both parties reside but against the law in another state would be interesting case law. 

The government sentencing memo said that Schaap broke Indiana law when he had sex multiple times in his office during youth conference. So even if he had stayed in IN, he still broke the law there.

 

[qwerty]

Prosecuting someone for something that is is legal and not prosecutable in the state where both parties reside but against the law in another state would be interesting case law. 

The government sentencing memo said that Schaap broke Indiana law when he had sex multiple times in his office during youth conference. So even if he had stayed in IN, he still broke the law there.

Another issue with federal prosecution;  Regardless of what they said, he did not violate any Indiana law; the Lake County prosecutor looked at the charges and found that there was nothing to charge him with.  I pointed out on the other forum, the plea agreement mentioned 35-42-4-7;  A good attempt but not entirely applicable to Schaap's position as pastor (since they are using the child care worker definition).  The victim was all ready expelled from the schools for improprieties with her boyfriend by the time she and Schaap started meeting, and the maximum penalty in Indiana if he did violate that law is a max of three years.