Gateway Church founder Robert Morris pleads guilty in child sexual abuse case
Gateway Church founding pastor Robert Morris pleaded guilty Thursday in Oklahoma to charges of indecent conduct with a child in connection with the sexual abuse case that led to his resignation from the North Texas megachurch.
Morris entered the plea during a court hearing in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, on Thursday afternoon.
Morris was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but all except six months of the jail time was suspended. The former pastor will serve the six months in jail in Osage County, Oklahoma, and then serve the remainder of the sentence on probation in Texas.
Morris will be required to register as a sex offender for life. Following the sentencing, he was removed from the courtroom in handcuffs.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day.”
Morris was indicted on the criminal charges — five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child — earlier this year in connection with his abuse of Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s, which began when she was 12 years old. Clemishire has said that the abuse continued for four years. At the time, Morris was a traveling evangelist who stayed at her family’s home in Hominy, Oklahoma.
‘Justice has finally been served,’ Cindy Clemishire says
In court Thursday, Clemishire tearfully read a victim impact statement, part of which was released by Drummond’s office.
“Today justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars,” Clemishire said. “I hope that people understand the only way to stop child sexual abuse is to speak up when it happens or is suspected.”
In her statement, Clemishire described how Morris repeatedly told her not to report his behavior, “or it will ruin everything.”
While Morris built his empire at Gateway, Clemishire said, she dropped out of college, went through divorces and struggled with self-worth and depression.
“Today is a new beginning for me, my family and friends who have been by my side through this horrendous journey,” Clemishire said. “I leave this courtroom today not as a victim, but a survivor.”
Clemishire drew on the Christian faith multiple times through her statement, first citing a verse from the book of Genesis: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, so that many might be saved.”
“The most important message in this traumatic and heartbreaking story is that Jesus died on the cross for each one of us,” Clemishire said. “He died not only to cover our sins and your horrific crime like this, but He also died for my pain and shame.”
In a family statement, Clemishire’s sister Karen Clemishire Black said, “Today we rise above Robert — the villain in our story, and we show the world our hero — Cindy Clemishire, who despite all the odds has been remarkably resilient through years of abuse, ridicule and shame. Robert Morris’ legacy will be nothing but one of pedophilia, betrayal, lies, shame and justice delayed.”
Attorneys in the case consulted Clemishire about the plea deal. As part of the agreement, Morris agreed to pay Clemishire $270,000.
Morris ‘wanted to accept responsibility’
Morris’ defense attorney Bill Mateja read a statement after the hearing, saying, “This afternoon, Pastor Robert Morris, previously the senior pastor at Gateway Church based in the DFW Metroplex, flanked by his wife of 45 years and his children, his father, and his mother-in-law, accepted responsibility for his improper and illegal conduct some 40 years ago with Cindy Clemishire by entering a guilty plea before Judge Cindy Pickerill.
“Notably, Pastor Robert had previously waived his preliminary hearing, didn’t file any motions to dismiss or challenge the indictment, didn’t request that the court set the matter for trial or put the state to any significant work or expense,” Mateja said. “He simply accepted responsibility for his crime from the mid-1980s and pled guilty.
“He pled guilty because he wanted to accept responsibility for his conduct,” the defense attorney said. “While he believes that he long since accepted responsibility in the eyes of God — and that Gateway Church was a manifestation of that acceptance — he readily accepted responsibility in the eyes of the law by virtue of his guilty plea.”
Morris asked that his attorneys convey his sincere apologies to Clemishire and his thanks to those who have supported and forgiven him.
“He also pled guilty for the sake of finality,” Mateja said. “Not only did he want to bring this legal matter to a quick end for his own sake and that of his family, he brought it to a quick end for the sake of Ms. Clemishire and her family and he sincerely hopes that his plea and jail sentence coupled with probation brings Ms. Clemishire and her family the finality that they might need. While no one wants to go to jail, from my conversations with Pastor Robert, I know that he is at peace with his sentence and, in an odd way, looks forward to fulfilling this penance, namely, going to jail for his past sin and crime.”
Officials with Gateway Church, which is based in Southlake, Texas, declined to comment Thursday on Morris’ guilty plea.
Morris resigned as senior pastor of the church, which he founded in 2000, after Clemishire spoke publicly about the allegations in June 2024.
Several civil cases are still pending related to the allegations, including a lawsuit that Clemishire and her father filed against Morris and the church, and a case in which Morris is seeking retirement pay from Gateway.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 3:15 PM.
