Gateway Church pastor resigns after admitting to sexually abusing 12-year-old girl
Robert Morris, the founder and pastor of Southlake megachurch Gateway Church, has resigned after admitting he sexually abused a child in the 1980s, starting when the girl was 12, according to a church news release.
“We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express deep sympathy to the victim and her family,” the church’s board of elders said in the release.
The board said that it accepted Morris’ resignation Tuesday afternoon and that church leaders did not know the details of Morris’ abuse of the girl until last week. He told church officials he had an affair with a “young lady” but did not disclose that the “affair” was actually years of sexual abuse of a child, according to the board’s statement.
Morris admitted to abusing the girl in the 1980s in a previous statement released to church leadership. The woman, now in her 50s, has said the abuse began when she was 12 years old and continued until Morris was caught in 1987, when she was 16.
Morris said in the statement to church leaders that the abuse including kissing and touching but not intercourse.
Morris, a spiritual adviser to Donald Trump and the leader of one of the largest churches in the country, is accused of abusing the woman multiple times, The Christian Post reported Saturday. She said the abuse happened in Oklahoma and Texas from 1982 to 1987, when Morris was in his 20s.
A blog post from The Wartburg Watch identified the woman as Cindy Clemishire. The writer said Clemishire described the alleged abuse with specificity, down to the clothes she wore when the abuse took place.
Morris said in the statement released by Gateway Church that he was removed from ministry by Shady Grove Church, where he worked at the time, and went to “freedom ministry.”
Morris said he spoke with church elders and Clemishire’s father, according to his statement. He returned to ministry with their “blessing” in 1989, he said.
North Texas’ Gateway Church started with 180 members in a Grapevine hotel in 2000 and has grown to more than 39,000 active members at its home campus in Southlake and at satellite churches across Dallas-Fort Worth, from North Richland Hills to Grand Prairie to Frisco.
On its website, Gateway Church describes its own freedom ministry as religious counseling to “undo the works of the devil in the lives of individuals,” including exorcism.
The church’s elders said in Tuesday’s statement that they are thankful the abuse has been exposed, “for the sake of the victim.”
“We know how many have been affected by this, we understand that you are hurting, and we are very sorry,” the board said in the release. “It is our prayer that, in time, healing for all those affected can occur.”
Morris’ resignation comes after elected leaders across Texas called for him to resign and said he should face consequences for his actions.
John Huffman, former mayor of Southlake, apparently took issue with Morris’ characterization of Clemishire as a “young lady” at that time.
“Years ago, he ruined a 12 year old girl’s life. She was not a young lady, but a child,” Huffman wrote in a post on X on Tuesday morning. “He should have spent time in jail, but he didn’t. And to date, despite the news breaking days ago, leadership at Gateway Church has made no public statements, and Pastor Morris remains employed. This is unacceptable.”
Republican State Rep. Nate Schatzline said Morris has shared in the past about a “moral failing” and went to restoration ministry. While he believes in that ministry, Schatzline said, the details about Morris’ actions changed his view of Morris’ ability to lead a church.
“I wholeheartedly condemn these actions and any attempt to cover them up,” Schatzline wrote in the statement. “We’re praying for the woman who has come forward and everyone affected, and I am grieved that a church leader committed this abuse.”
Republican State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, who represents Southlake in the Texas House, wrote in a statement that Clemishire is owed justice and Morris needs to be held accountable.
“His confession of criminal activity and moral failure is shocking and unacceptable,” he wrote. “My heart goes out to the woman whose life was irrevocably altered by his actions when she was just a child.”
There is currently no statute of limitations for criminal charges of continued sexual assault against a minor, per the Texas Criminal Code of Procedure. The Texas Penal Code defines a child as someone under the age of 17.
But authorities may not be able to file charges against Morris for any abuse that took place because a statute of limitations on that charge was in place until 2007.
The statute of limitations had already expired for any abuse Clemishire survived in the 1980s before the law was changed, meaning the removal of that time limit does apply to abuse that happened in the 1980s.
Following the news of Morris’ alleged abuse, state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Collin County Republican, announced that he plans to hold interim hearings on changing the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases.
“There must be no safe haven or security for anyone who abuses a child in Texas,” he told the Quorum Report, adding that any changes would “substantially” change the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse.
Leach did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details on the changes he will seek.
Gateway Church said it has hired Haynes & Boone, a Fort Worth law firm, to conduct an independent investigation into the abuse to ensure it has a full understanding of what happened.
A spokesperson for Haynes & Boone was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published June 18, 2024 at 2:59 PM.