Former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris indicted on 5 charges of indecency with child
The former lead pastor and founder of Southlake’s Gateway Church has been indicted on five charges related to sexual abuse of a child, officials with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday.
The pastor, 63-year-old Robert Morris, stepped down from his position with the North Texas megachurch last summer, the Star-Telegram reported at the time.
Morris’ resignation came days after Cindy Clemishire publicly accused him of sexually abusing her as a child in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12 years old.
The indictment by a multi-county grand jury on five counts of “lewd or indecent acts to a child” was released by the Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday and gives several dates between December 1982 and January 1985 on which Morris allegedly abused Clemishire. A redacted copy of the indictment shared by the AG’s office does not include the victim’s name.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”
In a statement to NBC News on Wednesday, Clemishire said, “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable.”
At the time the abuse allegedly began in December 1982, Morris was a traveling evangelist who visited Clemishire and her family in Hominy, Oklahoma, authorities said in the release. The indictment alleges that Morris’ sexual misconduct began that Christmas and continued for the next four years.
A statute of limitations does not apply in the case because Morris did not reside in or inhabit Oklahoma for any period of time, officials said in a statement.
“We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions,” Gateway Church officials told the Star-Telegram in a statement. “We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation.”
Morris was not arrested or in police custody on Wednesday. The felony charges are expected to be entered in an Osage County court on Thursday, when a judge will schedule an initial hearing and set bond, a spokesperson for the AG’s Office told NBC.
It’s unclear whether Morris has an attorney to represent him in the criminal case. In a statement to The Christian Post after Clemishire made the allegations public last year, Morris said, “When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years.”
In 2000, Morris founded Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and it grew to become one of the largest churches in the United States.
Four of the church’s elders were removed by the board in November 2024 after an independent investigation revealed that the elders had knowledge of Morris’ behavior prior to Clemishire speaking out.
Since then, the church has hired four new interim elders as it continues searching for a new lead pastor.
“You might get tired of me saying this, but this is something we want to get right, not fast,” church elder Tra Willbanks said at the time.
The Oklahoma charges come nearly a month after Morris asked a federal judge to dismiss a fraud lawsuit filed against him, Gateway Church and others over the church’s tithing practices, according to court documents.
The lawsuit, filed by members of the church in October 2024, stems from allegations that Gateway was not transparent with its finances and misrepresented how donations were spent despite generating $100 million in revenue in the past, according to The Christian Post.
The suit also alleges that the church does not honor a “money back guarantee” policy it was said to have on tithes.
Lawyers for Morris argue that the lawsuit infringes on religious freedoms and that Morris never made any kind of enforceable agreement that would require him to return money to donors, according to court documents.
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas dismissed one defendant — former elder and pastor Kevin Grove — from the lawsuit, but has yet ruled on dismissal motions from Morris or the church, according to court documents.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM.
