Megachurch Pastor and FormerTrump Counselor Admits Guilt to Sexual Abuse of a Minor
The founder of among the biggest megachurches in the United States, Robert Morris, has admitted guilt to molesting a 12-year-old girl in Oklahoma during the 1980s period.
Morris, sixty-four, pleaded guilty on Thursday in Osage county district court on multiple charges of inappropriate acts with a child. He was given a sentence to a decade in prison, but as part of a plea deal will only serve six months in county jail.
He will register as a registered offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.
Background of the Legal Matter
The former minister founded Gateway church in the city of Southlake, the state of Texas. He grew it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand attendees each week.
Cindy Clemishire, fifty-five, the woman who publicly identified herself as the victim of the abuse, was present in the courtroom as he admitted his guilt. In a prepared statement she told him: “There is no such thing as agreement from a child of twelve. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a young woman but a child. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sibling Karen Black also read a statement, saying: “You acted as if you were righteous, preaching from big pulpits. As you concealed your true self, we’ve known you are simply a predator.”
The pastor stepped down from the congregation the previous year after Clemishire made her story known. She had spent years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Specifics of the Abuse
The molestation started in 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with the family in their residence, where he invited the child into his bedroom.
The molestation continued for the next four-year period.
A leaked transcript of a phone call revealed that in 2005, the pastor tried to bribe the victim into not speaking out, saying to her to “name your price”.
Fall from Grace and Connections
Morris’s conviction marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his peak, he authored multiple popular books and his sermons were transmitted globally.
He also served as a spiritual adviser to the former president. He joined the presidential advisory group during the initial Trump administration and was involved in an effort to mobilize religious voters for him in the recent election.
The former president also attended Gateway church in 2020 where he commended Morris and his senior team as “great people with a stellar reputation”.
