INDIANA
Chicago Tribune
By Dennis Sullivan and Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune
August 5, 2012
The FBI confirmed Friday that it is investigating whether the former pastor of an Indiana megachurch broke any laws during a relationship with a now-17-year-old girl that led to his ouster from First Baptist Church in Hammond.
Former Pastor Jack Schaap, 54, admitted to adultery and “improper behavior” with the teenager, leading a board of deacons to fire him Monday, church spokesman Eddie Wilson has said.
Church officials contacted the Lake County, Ind., sheriff’s office Tuesday and have been cooperating with investigators from the county and federal agency since, Wilson said.
“There is an allegation we’re trying to prove or disprove that the pastor crossed state lines and engaged in an improper sexual relationship with an underage female,” said Robert Ramsey, spokesman for the FBI’s office in Merrillville, Ind.
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