Crime & Safety

Megachurch Sex Lawsuit Filed in Will County: Court Supervision

A lawsuit against an imprisoned preacher from Crete and an Indiana megachurch topped the week's court news.

A former megachurch preacher sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in March for carrying on a sexual relationship with a teenage member of his congregation was sued in Will County court.

In addition to preacher Jack Schaap, 55, of Crete, the First Baptist Church of Hammond was named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The parents of a teenage girl Schaap had sex with while he was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond filed the lawsuit. The suit identifies the parents as "John Doe and Mary Doe," and the teen as "Jane Doe." The suit gives Jane Doe's date of birth as June 27, 1995.

Find out what's happening in Chicago Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here's what else was going on at the area's courthouses:

  • A Joliet man was sentenced to five years in prison for drunkenly driving over and killing a man who was drunkenly lying in the street.
  • The attorneys for a New Lenox man convicted of punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar want the judge in the case to recuse herself to avoid the appearance of impropriety. The judge received—but did not read—an emailed statement from the Will County State's Attorney's Office after it was distributed to the press following the guilty verdict.
  • A Cook County judge warned an Orland Park man jailed for allegedly breaking into his ex-girlfriend's house and attacking her about having his family contact the woman.
  • The Orland Park Ghost Rider pleaded guilty and got an 18-month prison sentence.
  • A Will County judge postponed her decision on whether a defense attorney can review the psychiatric records of a youth who was allegedly sexually assaulted, and then ruled that she would review the material before determining whether it will be handed over.
  • A woman claiming she was mistakenly from a Bolingbrook Walgreens filed a lawsuit.
  • A Tinley Park man charged with beating his wife to death with a weightlifter's bar was found mentally fit to stand trial.
  • A Plainfield man convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old gave a lengthy speech about how it wasn't his fault, as well as many other things, and then the judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
  • The attorney for a man convicted of a 2007 Plainfield murder said the killer's girlfriend didn't testify for him because her lawyer threatened to quit her case if she talked.
  • A former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher was found mentally unfit to be tried for allegedly threatening district officials.
  • A Cook County judge refused to raise the $2 million bond of an Orland Park man charged with killing his wife.
  • A Romeoville woman charged with leading her daughter and three pals on a vicious rampage against her boyfriend walked out of court a free woman—and left the other four behind to face the music.

Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.

Find out what's happening in Chicago Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.