Ex-NW Ind. pastor gets 12 years for sex with girl

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced the former pastor of a northwestern Indiana megachurch to 12 years in prison who pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a teenage member of the parish.

Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano also sentenced 55-year-old Jack Schaap of Crete, Ill., to five years of supervised release Wednesday. Schaap pleaded guilty in September to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Schaap was pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church of Hammond for 11 years when he was fired in July.

Schaap admitted having three sexual encounters with a member of the parish over a four-week period last summer, starting the week before she turned 17. He said the encounters occurred in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.