Update from the La Porte County Prosecutor's Office
Mar 22, 2018
John Espar
Update from the La Porte County Prosecutor's Office

Prosecuting Attorney John Espar is a La Porte County native, born and raised in Michigan City. He graduated Elston High School in 1980, and attended Indiana University~ Bloomington, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1984, cum laude with special honors in Forensic Studies and a second major in English. Upon graduation, John was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. In 1987, John received his law degree from the University of Southern California~ Los Angeles. Prosecutor Espar has spent his entire 30-year legal career as a prosecutor seeking to balance a victim’s plea for justice, a justice system’s obligation to right the wrongs of others, and the community’s right to peace and security. Over the past 30 years, Prosecutor Espar has personally prosecuted some of the most-difficult and most-disturbing cases imaginable, including the death penalty prosecution of Timothy Buss for the abduction, sexual mutilation and murder of a nine-year-old child – one of two cases which instilled in John a passion to pursue justice for the victims of violence, and in particular, justice for the most-vulnerable among us, our children. Prosecutor Espar began his first term as the elected Prosecuting Attorney for La Porte County, in 2015 after securing more than 70% of the vote in a contested primary and 100% of the vote in an uncontested general election. Upon taking office in January 2015, Mr. Espar immediately set out to overhaul the very structure of the Office of Prosecuting Attorney and the very manner in which the staff of prosecutors conducted the people’s business within the criminal justice system, saying, “We were not elected to maintain the status quo; We were elected to overturn it.” In his first act as the newly-elected prosecutor, Mr. Espar set out to dismantle an office structure comprised of a staff of part-time prosecutors, divided between the demands of their private clients and their duties to the public as prosecutors. Today, the entire criminal division of the Office of the La Porte County Prosecuting Attorney is staffed by full-time prosecutors, dedicated as public servants to seek justice for victims of crime, accountability for criminal offenders and peace and security for our community. Prosecuting Attorney Espar launched a number of other unprecedented initiatives under his new administration, including the formation of the La Porte County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit to investigate, intervene and prosecute, individuals who use technology and the Internet to prey upon children for purposes of sexual exploitation. Prosecutor’s Espar’s ICAC Unit works in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Indiana ICAC Task Force, and various other federal, state and law enforcement agencies across the country, to intervene in the online exploitation of endangered children. After forming the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, Prosecutor Espar formed the first Prosecuting Attorney’s Special Victims Unit and spearheaded the formal implementation of the La Porte County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of compassionate professionals to meet the unique needs for the effective investigation and prosecution of crimes of sexual assault. Prosecuting Attorney Espar has been called to testify before the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee in support of legislation on behalf of the Indiana Crimes Against Children Task Force. And Mr. Espar’s work on behalf of child-victims of crime, has been recognized by the Dunebrook Child Advocacy Center, which named him the 2017 recipient of the Lester Radke Community Service Award.  John is a member of the National Internet Crimes Against Children Program, the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys, Inc. and the National District Attorneys Association. On a personal note, John is the fifth of seven children born to Margaret and Bill Espar. In 1985, John and Yolla began their, now 32-year marriage, during which they raised their three, now adult, children, Christina, Emily and Andrew. John and Yolla are members of Queen of All Saints Church where John serves as a lector. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Saint Anthony Maronite Aid Society and is presently on-leave from active membership in the Rotary Club of Michigan City.