Morris admitted to wrongdoing after Cindy Clemishire came out and said that he abused her when she was a 12-year-old girl. He resigned from Gateway Church in the Dallas suburb of Southlake in June.
Gateway Church founder Robert Morris resigns
Gateway Church founder Robert Morris has resigned after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her beginning when she was just 12 years old.
Fox – 4 News
An Oklahoma grand jury indicted Texas megachurch founder and former spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump Robert Morris on five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child on Wednesday.
The charges against Morris, 63, stem from alleged acts involving a 12-year-old girl that took place over four years, starting in 1982, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office said in a statement Wednesday.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in the statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position.”
In June, Morris resigned from Gateway Church, which he founded in the Dallas suburb of Southlake. The church removed several of its elders following a law firm’s independent investigation into the allegations in November.
“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, said in a statement to the Oklahoman − a part of the USA TODAY Network − after the indictment was made public.
USA TODAY reached out to Morris’ attorney, Mack Martin, for comment and did not immediately receive a response. Martin declined comment to The Oklahoman.
Former presidential spiritual advisor accused of inappropriate relationship
Morris admitted to wrongdoing after Clemishire spoke out by name to the The Wartburg Watch, a blog about sexual abuse within the church. In statements to the media last year, Morris said he was involved in his early 20s in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying.”
USA TODAY does not typically name victims of sexual abuse but Clemishire previously told USA TODAY that it was important to her to share her story.
Clemishire said in the blog post that she and her family met Morris at a youth revival in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was 20 and she was 11. Morris was a traveling evangelist with his wife, Debbie.
Morris would preach at Clemishire’s church on Sundays, and sometimes he, Debbie, and their son would stay at her family’s home. She viewed him as “safe and friendly,” she said.
Things changed on Christmas in 1982 when Morris asked a 12-year-old Clemishire to “visit him in his room that night,” and she thought nothing of it, she said in the post. Once in his room, she said he sexually abused her and warned her: “Never tell anyone about this because it will ruin everything.”
She said the abuse continued in Oklahoma and Texas until 1987.
Gateway Church said it was cooperating with the criminal investigation when it announced the removal of its elders. Tra Willbanks, an elder at Gateway Church, said at the time that neither the church nor its current leadership are subject to the investigation.
Statute of limitations did not apply
Clemishire told USA TODAY that she decided to come forward publicly to encourage others who may be victims to tell their stories.
“Any and all victims, come forward … I just don’t believe that I’m the only person,” she said.
The Attorney General’s office said that the statute of limitations was not applicable to Morris’ charges as he was not a resident of Oklahoma.
The state’s multicounty grand jury returned the indictment Wednesday after hearing two days of testimony in secret sessions, The Oklahoman reported.
The indictment will be filed for prosecution in Osage County District Court. Morris is expected to turn himself in there next week.
Accused pastor once had wide reach
Morris was on Trump’s spiritual advisory board during the 2016 campaign and during the first term of his presidency. He did not have a role in the 2024 reelection effort, Trump’s campaign said last year.
Morris had a television program that aired in over 190 countries and his radio program aired in more than 6,800 cities, according to his biography on the Gateway Church website.
His YouTube page, which is no longer online, had 80,000 subscribers and included videos with titles like “Freedom Through Forgiveness” and “Did You Know You’re Made Perfect By God’s Grace?”