Woman sues Gateway Church, alleging she was sexually abused at 13 by youth group member
A woman and her parents are suing Gateway Church and a former youth group attendee, alleging she was sexually assaulted and groomed by a high school senior when she was 13 years old.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in a Tarrant County district court. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $1 million in damages.
The plaintiffs allege the girl was groomed and sexually assaulted by a teenage boy she was in a church youth group with. The group was hosted by Gateway leadership at The King’s University in Southlake. The school and the North Texas megachurch are associated through a partnership.
The nighttime youth group was held for children ranging from ages 11 to 18, where there were often more than 200 children in attendance with little to no supervision by Gateway’s counselors, pastors, leaders, chaperones, or volunteers, according to the suit.
The assault began in 2016, the suit says, when the defendant, Gabriel Reece Snyder, was a senior in high school — about four years older than the then 13-year-old, who is now an adult.
The suit alleges Snyder began grooming the girl at the youth group meetings. He “cynically” used the Gateway pastors’ and ministers’ biblical beliefs and teachings to convince the girl that it was the will of God and the church leaders to submit to him because he was a male and she was a female, the suit says.
Snyder took the 13-year-old outside of the university at nighttime and sexually assaulted her multiple times, beginning in December 2016, according to the suit.
The assaults continued into February 2017, when the victim was still 13 and Snyder was 18, according to the plaintiffs’ account. Although there were surveillance cameras above the areas where the victim was assaulted, no one from the church came to her aid, the suit alleges.
“Upon information and belief, (the victim) was not the only young teenage youth group member that Defendant Snyder groomed and sexually assaulted at The King’s University,” the suit reads.
Snyder, now 25, is currently serving a prison sentence in Dayton, Texas, in connection to an assault of another minor, according to the suit. He was sentenced in a Tarrant County court to four years for sexual assault of a child. He began a sex offender treatment program in October 2023 and is projected to be released on parole on Oct. 30 of this year, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records.
The plaintiffs seek to hold Gateway liable because the church allowed Snyder unsupervised and isolated access to the victim, when the church’s leaders should have known the dangers posed by allowing hundreds of children to be without supervision at night, the suit says.
It further alleges she endured physical, mental, and emotional suffering in the past and will likely continue to experience suffering in the future. The assault “damaged her personal, social, and educational relationships,” the suit reads, in addition to causing her psychological pain.
These damages were caused by Gateway’s negligence, the suit alleges.
Gateway did not immediately respond to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment Thursday.
The suit comes after Gateway’s founder and senior pastor, Robert Morris, resigned from the Southlake church after admitting to sexually assaulting a woman, Cindy Clemishire, who is now in her 50s, when she was 12 and he was in his 20s in the 1980s.
This week Gateway Church canceled its annual conference in the wake of the allegations against Morris.
“We’re continuing to pursue truth, and we’re filled with hope for all God wants to do in Gateway Church in the future,” the announcement read. “We want to let you know that after much prayer and consideration, we have decided not to hold Gateway Conference in 2024.”
The cancellation of the conference comes as Gateway works to navigate “Robert Morris’ resignation and the emotions surrounding it,” the announcement read. “We are deeply sorry for the pain this situation caused the survivor, other survivors of abuse, and the church at large.”
Two other lawsuits were filed shortly before Morris’ resignation, one alleging the church attempted to cover up a sexual abuse of a child and the other accusing the church of discrimination.
This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 5:01 PM.
