Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in the Dallas area today pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s, beginning when she was just 12.
Morris, who grew Gateway into one of America’s largest megachurches, admitted to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child before Judge Cindy Pickerill. Under a plea deal, he received a 10-year sentence but will serve only six months in county jail. He also will register as a sex offender and pay $270,000 in restitution.
He was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately after the hearing.
Clemishire, now 55, was present in the courtroom with family, witnessing the accountability she had pursued for decades, NBC News reported.
“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. “My hope is that many victims hear my story, and it can help lift their shame and allow them to speak up. . . .
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“Today is a new beginning for me, my family and friends who have been by my side through this horrendous journey. I leave this courtroom today not as a victim, but a survivor.”
The plea signifies a stunning fall for Morris, 64, who founded Gateway Church in 2000, growing it into a megachurch that once attracted more than 25,000 attenders. His worldwide reach extended through bestselling books, televised sermons, and serving as a spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump.
Morris also served as a longtime overseer at Church of the Highlands (COTH), the flagship megachurch in the scandal-ridden Association of Related Churches (ARC).
The allegations were first reported publicly by El reloj de Wartburg in June 2024, prompting Morris to resign from Gateway y COTH. He had previously described the abuse as a “fracaso moral” involving a “young lady” but avoided addressing specifics.
However, Morris’ attorney Bill Mateja said in a statement today that Morris “pled guilty because he wanted to accept responsibility for his conduct. 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.” (emphasis in the original)
Mateja added that Morris wanted him to tell Clemishire and her family “that he sincerely apologizes for his conduct and asks for their forgiveness.”
Clemishire previously told TRR that the abuse began on Christmas night in 1982, when Morris, then a traveling evangelist in his early 20s, was staying with her family in Oklahoma and invited her to his room. There, Morris molested Clemishire, who recounted that she wore “pink pajamas with bloomer pants over my underwear.”
Over the next several years, Morris continued to molest Clemishire warning her, “Never tell anyone because it will ruin everything.”
“It didn’t ruin anything for him, but it ruined everything for me,” she added.
Clemishire disclosed the abuse to her parents and church leaders in 1987. Morris then underwent a “restoration process” in the late 1980s and resumed ministry without the crimes ever being reported to police.
In 2005, as Morris gained national prominence, Clemishire sought money from Morris to cover therapy costs for her childhood trauma. Documents released to TRR show that Morris refused to pay Clemishire any money and warned that she could be criminally prosecuted for trying to get “money under a threat of exposure.”
But in 2007, Clemishire hired a lawyer—now Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond—to threaten Morris with a lawsuit if he didn’t reimburse her for thousands spent in counseling.
Clemishire told TRR that Morris’ lawyer “attempted to blame (her) for the abuse.” Morris offered Clemishire $25,000, contingent on a nondisclosure agreement, which Clemishire refused. This caused negotiations to collapse.
But in March of this year, Drummond’s office indicted Morris for crimes against Clemishire. Prior to the indictment, it was thought that criminal charges could not be brought because the statute of limitations had expired in this case.
However, the statute of limitations “is not applicable in this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time,” Drummond stated at the time.
Today, Drummond issued a strong statement against Morris.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” said Drummond said. “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.”
Como informado previamente por TRR, numerous former elders at Gateway, as well as several prominent Christian leaders, knew about Morris’ abuse of Clemishire for decades.
Those who allegedly knew included XO Marriage founder Jimmy Evans and Brady Boyd, who was recently ousted from his Colorado megachurch because his elders didn’t believe his claims of ignorance regarding Morris’ abuse.
Two other pastors at Boyd’s former church—New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado—were also removed for covering up Morris’ abuse: Executive Pastors Lance Coles and Brian Newberg.
Reflecting on her decades-long ordeal, Clemishire said today, “I hope that people understand the only way to stop child sexual abuse is to speak up when it happens or is suspected.”
She also urged changes to the law, like the Texas bill passed in June, making NDA’s for child sex abuse survivors no longer valid. “I hope that laws continue to change and new ones are written so children and victims’ rights are better protected.”
Correction: There were conflicting reports on whether Morris was ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution or $270,000. TRR has confirmed the amount is $270,000 and changed this article accordingly.
Julie Roys es una reportera de investigación veterana y fundadora de The Roys Report. Anteriormente, también presentó un programa de entrevistas nacional en Moody Radio Network, llamado Up for Debate, y ha trabajado como reportera de televisión para una filial de CBS. Sus artículos han aparecido en numerosas publicaciones periódicas.
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49 Responses
THE SENTENCE. This conviction and sentence were an excellent and masterful job by the Oklahoma Attorney General and the judge. They should be applauded, not denigrated.
I realize there is a swelling distrust of the US Constitution these days, but the reason why Morris got the sentence he did under the plea deal is due to Article 1, Section 9, of the US Constitution’s prohibition of ex post facto laws. “Ex post facto” laws are when a legislature passes a criminal statute that punishes actions retroactively. The prohibition against ex post facto laws means it is unconstitutional to sentence Morris under sentencing laws that were passed AFTER the crimes were committed. In other words, the judge and prosecutor were limited to dealing with Morris’s crimes under the laws AS THEY EXISTED WHEN THE CRIMES WERE COMMITTED in the 1980s.
The sentence Morris received under the plea agreement was pretty heavy in the 1980s for that crime. If the same crimes had been committed in the 21st century, thanks to a lot of progressive 21st-Century laws that woke people up to the evils of CSA, you better believe the sentence would have been heavier.
I hope your comment is read by detractors who do not understand that the DA is now a hero. The work he had to put in, and the flack he must have received from his own church, espicially if they were in this new cult like thinking about church leaders. Thank you for sharing.
As others have said, the plea deal was agreed upon, because the entire case hinged on the old, frontier era law, that paused statute of limitations if you fled the state. It’s a shaky legal theory in many legal experts minds.
The real danger for the prosecution was they’d lose the case because that old law was not really applicable. And the real danger to the defendant was conviction no matter the strong legal opinions which said that law didn’t apply.
So both hedged their bets. Plus Robert isn’t off the hook. He is being sued for $1 million by Cindy. And in reality, she could awarded more in that civil suit. Both sides probably were tired of the while thing.
If Morris truly accepted responsibility, he would have confessed and repented, not took time “Off” 30 years ago, and declared himself fit for duty 2 years later. I do wish I could be in his cell block, there at the county jail. There is so much of this going on in the Charismatic wing of what people think if Christianity that it is sickening. We are all sinners, but it is obvious that some people have a reprobate mind. No obvious indwelling of the Holy Spirit.