Former Indiana Megachurch Pastor Serving Time for Sex Crimes Gets Early Release

The former senior pastor of an Indiana megachurch has been released from prison nine months early after serving nine years of a sentence for sexually abusing an underage girl.

Jack Schaap, 64, who previously led the 15,000-member First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, for 11 years, was granted an early release May 4 by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported.

Schaap was convicted in 2013 of taking the16-year-old across state lines from Indiana to have sex with her in Illinois and Michigan. He was originally sentenced to 12 years in Federal prison. 

Schaap was fired from First Baptist of Hammond in 2012 after church staff members discovered his relationship with the girl and notified police. 

Last year, Schaap asked for an early release so he could care for his elderly parents, who live in Michigan, claiming it was a matter of “life or death.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office denied his request at that time, with a federal judge calling Schaap’s crime “grotesque” and saying he continued to pose a threat to others.

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In 2014, Schaap’s attorney had sought to have his sentence overturned, citing the “aggressiveness” of the 16-year-old victim and alleging that her “prior extensive sexual experience” and drug use meant his actions “did not serve to destroy (her) in the manner that often occurs when underage individuals are victimized.”

Schaap was the son-in-law of Jack Hyles, who led the church until his death in 2001.