'It's God's Plan!' Baptist Pastor Told 17 Year Old Girl Jesus Wanted Them to Have Sex

As a pastor at an Indiana megachurch, Jack Schaap persuaded a 17 year old girl to have sex with him by very creepily claiming it was all part of God’s plan. He wanted to put her on a “better path of living,” he said, adding “that’s what we call Righteousness,” letters provided by prosecutors reveal.  It’s all very gross, but the most disturbing God-wants-you-to-bone-me moment may have come when Schaap wrote, “That is exactly what Christ desires for us. He wants to marry us + become eternal lovers!” 

Schaap pleaded guilty last year to transporting his victim across state lines. Prosecutors say Schaap persuaded the church to bring her to his cabin in Michigan, claiming she was in  an “extremely vulnerable state” that could be cured only with alone time with him (and his penis). Prosecutors also allege that he had sex with the girl on his property in Crete, Illinois and in First Baptist Church offices.

The underage victim, who spent her entire life in the church listening to Schaap preach three times a week, wrote that she thought he was the voice of God. 

“He told me to confide in him, to trust him, and he made me feel safe and comfortable around him as a man of God,” the girl wrote in official documents. “[Schaap] preyed on that trust and my vulnerability.”

Schaap is scheduled for sentencing in March. The Government and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster recommend he receive only ten years for pleading guilty before charges were filed.