HAMMOND (IL)
NWI Times
Marc Chase marc.chase@nwi.com, (219) 662-5330
HAMMOND | With an orange jail jumpsuit and leg shackles replacing the suit and tie he wore to a previous hearing, disgraced Pastor Jack Schaap admitted Wednesday to having three sexual encounters with a parish girl beginning when she was 16.
Schaap, 54, formally pleaded guilty in Hammond federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano, admitting to a charge that could bring 10 or more years in prison.
Schaap, former pastor of Hammond’s First Baptist Church, entered the courtroom Wednesday in an orange Porter County Jail jumpsuit and leg irons. Throughout the proceedings, he periodically winked and gave a thumbs up to family members and others gathered in the visitors gallery.
One man seated in the gallery and holding a Bible whispered a quiet prayer to Jesus when Schaap took his seat in the defendant’s chair.
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