Ex-Dyer seminary school VP pleads guilty to child porn: records
A former Mid-America Reformed Seminary vice president pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to distribution of child pornography, federal court filings show.
Michael Deckinga, 42, of Dyer, was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 20. The allegations happened between November 2024 and May 2025.
Further information was not immediately available.
His sentencing is at 11 a.m. on April 21 in the Northern District of Indiana.
In a video message posted online Aug. 25, without naming Deckinga, Mid-America Reformed Seminary President Alan Strange, a longtime faculty member, said that a vice president of advancement had been terminated.
Father in son’s fatal ‘17 crash pleads guilty to meth dealing
An East Chicago man pleaded guilty in federal court to dealing meth.
Christopher Waiters, 36, formerly of Merrillville, admitted in documents filed Jan. 21 that he sold the drug in April 2023.
His sentencing is expected in May.
Court records show Waiters was sentenced to four years probation in March 2023 in Lake County for an August 2017 crash into a school bus in Calumet Township that killed his 6-year-old son.
His son Malachi Waiters suffered injuries including a fractured skull and died from the crash. Another 4-year-old in the car was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Appeals court rejects man’s bid to throw out conviction in killing
The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a man’s bid to overturn his conviction for killing his children’s mother while they were watching cartoons on a cell phone in the next room.
Samuel Edwards, 39, was sentenced to 92.5 years in prison in April for murder, five counts of neglect of a dependent and a gun enhancement.
He had put the five children — then ranging in age from 6 to 1 — in a neighboring bedroom and gave them a phone to watch before closing the door and killing Ieisha Jefferson on Dec. 27, 2022, at a residence in the 3800 block of Adams Street in Gary.
Afterward, he called 911, saying his name was “Carlos” to report the shooting.
In a 3-0 decision, Judge Elaine Brown wrote it was neglectful to shoot the mother and leave the children alone with her body in the home.
Edwards can appeal.
Chicago man charged with choking girl in East Chicago
A Chicago man was charged after allegedly choking an underage girl he was having sex with in East Chicago, an affidavit states.
Jesus Marapacuto-Trejo, 21, is charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, strangulation and two misdemeanors. A court hearing was scheduled for Thursday.
East Chicago Police responded Jan. 25 to the 4800 block of Homerlee Ave. for a 911 hangup.
The girl told police she was “involved” with Marapacuto-Trejo for four months. After they argued, he started to choke her while she was sitting on a bed.
He told police he thought she was 16 after they met on TikTok. He admitted that after meeting her relatives, he knew her real age – 14 to 15 – during the underage sexual relationship.
mcolias@post-trib.com
