Jack Schaap blames health, financial woes for his relationship with teen (PDF attached)

Dr. Schaap also served as a counselor and an educator, counseling approximately 100 church members on a weekly basis

Pastor sentencing may be delayed so victim can make statement

Federal attorneys are asking that the Jan. 15 sentencing hearing for former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor Jack Schaap be delayed so his victim has more time to prepare a statement and restitution request.

The most common man-made covering for sin is an excuse. Proverbs 28:13

The lawyer's request is for less than the 10 year statutory mandatory minimum sentence. (p 1 of the PDF)

 

Comes now Jack Allan Schaap, by counsel Paul G. Stracci and Alison L Benjamin of Thiros & Stracci, and submits his memorandum in aid of sentencing with the attached sentencing letters, all in support of the parties’ recommendation that the Court impose upon him a below-guideline sentence of 120 months (the statutory mandatory minimum sentence)

I am unbending for the same reason the person I quoted is unbending. And I do not think I have heard anyone say it either, I was simply magnifying the principle contained in the quoted material. By now the point I was making should be clearer.

 

Wayne

I was parodying the merciless attitude of the person I was quoting. It should always be a judicial element.

How is Ann being merciless? 

She said: "I hope the judge gives this molester the maximum sentence."

There's a minimum mandatory sentence of 120 months (PDF document). And there is I suppose a maximum sentence. 

Ann is not requesting anything out of line. 

Schaap earned whatever sentence is he is receive. 

 

Thank you gentlemen.  That is exactly what I meant and do not think that the statement implied in any way that judges should never show mercy.

"Good grief." - Charlie Brown

You knew him at PIlls? What was he like back then?

You have missed my point entirely.

There's a lot I could (and want to say about this), but I think Proverbs is pretty clear enough.

The Call of Wisdom - Proverbs 1
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 
23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Schaap can ask for a sentence below the mandatory minimum, but I would be stunned - stunned - if he got any less than that, and I believe that he'll probably get a lot more since there's a lot of exacerbating factors (minor, cross state lines, multiple points of contact with minors, etc).  If his lawyer is really good, then maybe...but I don't see it.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/119541693/010313-Sentencing-Memo

 

Comment: Link to unabridged sentencing memorandum. This contains the letters of support.

The defense strategy seems to be based on presenting this action as unprecedented and uncharacteristic, a momentary lapse under extreme stress. I guess the sentencing will turn mostly on whether those involved believe that picture. I wonder if the "polish the shaft" sermon and other such things will in any way factor into the situation. 

I was link surfing and I hit this piece, and it sums up exactly why I think Schaap will get a harsher sentence.  Kudos to Darrell at SFL for putting into words what is so unfortunately often in our circles.  I do NOT agree with his levying this charge at BJU, but the point is clear and unassailable.

For no matter how many court rulings and media stories and witnesses and blogs and protestors rise up against you, you can be confident that you have never been wrong. This is your birthright. This is your heritage. This is the sacred trust passed down from father to son for generations: the gift of being always and forever right.

So Be Right, BJU. Be right, fundamentalist, wherever you are. But you can only be right until the stars fall. For in that latter day then shall the Judge of all the earth stand and deliver His final verdict on whether you truly did justly and loved mercy and walked humbly. There will be no more reasons or excuses or equivocations then. And unless you repent, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.

But there’s still today. There’s still this moment. You still have time. It’s not too late to do right.  

If there had been any real conviction of sin or the enormity of his crimes on Schaap's part, then I would say to give him less.  I still don't see it, and I doubt the judge will too.

Judges don't go by "conviction of sin". Pleading guilty is taking responsibility. He has also apologized in the court and to the court for his crime. What I am observing is the lack of distinction being made by you in imposing on the court some kind of Christian requirement. That is not what the court considers.

Federal sentencing is normally very predicable, especially in someone who is getting a first conviction and has zero points. It will likely be 120 months but it will be far more surprising if he gets more than less.

I just thought that Schaap's behavior with this whole disaster is exactly what BJU had been accused of by the DRBJU group - stonewalling and denial until reality finally sunk in and they had to address it.  

Rob - agree with you on that.  I have just found Schaap's attitude at the plea agreement hearing so very telling...shooting winks and waving to his congregation that was behind him while he was on his way into the plea hearing.  

Schaap, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, periodically winked and gave a thumbs-up to family members and others gathered in the court's 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.

During the proceedings, Schaap admitted to Lozano that his sexual encounters with the girl began when she was 16 — in June 2012 — and continued two more times through July, when she was 17.

At the time of the encounters, the victim was both a church member whom Schaap was counseling and a student of the Hammond Baptist Schools, of which Schaap was the superintendent, he told the judge.

Schaap told Lozano he had someone else — who was not named during the proceedings — drive the victim to locations in Crete, Ill., and western Michigan for the encounters.

He told Lozano what he did "was a sin. It was wrong." But Schaap also claimed he did not realize it was illegal at the time he was carrying out the acts.

Lozano deferred accepting Schaap's plea until the scheduled Jan. 15 sentencing hearing.

In any case, I think I'll drop the subject now.  PM me if you still want to discuss it.