A woman accused a Texas megachurch pastor of sexually abusing her when she was 12, and the preacher only admitted to engaging in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young girl.”
Robert Morris, 62, founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, which claims a weekly attendance of 100,000, faces accusations from Cindy Clemishire.
She claimed that the pastor, who was also a spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump, abused her from 1982 to 1987, when she was between 12 and 16 years old.
Clemishire, who went public with her allegations and revealed her identity on Friday, said Morris was a traveling preacher when he met her and her family at his church in Oklahoma in 1981.
The two families, including Morris’ wife and son, became close, and Clemishire alleged that Morris’ abuse began when he stayed at his family’s Tulsa home on Christmas in 1982.
A woman accused Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was 12, and the preacher only admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young girl.”
Robert Morris, 62, founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, which claims a weekly attendance of 100,000, faces accusations from Cindy Clemishire (pictured).
He describes a scene in which Morris asked him to come to his room and talk to him, asking him to lie down on his bed.
Morris began touching her inappropriately, and Clemishire alleged that he touched her stomach, then her chest, and then under her pants.
‘I vividly remember everything I was wearing and how the pajamas felt. “They were light pink, and it was a little top with baggy pants, and I had underwear and baggy pants and the little top and a robe that opened over the top,” she said.
Clemishire adds that after the alleged abuse occurred, Morris “told me I could never tell anyone, because it would ruin everything.”
She says he continued to isolate and abuse her for the next four and a half years before she finally spoke out, first to a family friend and then to her parents.
Clemishire’s father demanded that Morris be removed from ministry and she claims he did so for two years to undergo a “restoration.” She returned to preaching in 1989.
Morris, for his part, admitted wrongdoing, although he never admits that Clemishire was a minor at the time in a statement to The Christian Mail on Saturday.
‘When I was in my early twenties, I engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young woman in a house where I was staying. It was kisses and caresses and not intercourse, but it was wrong. “This behavior occurred on several occasions over the next few years,” she stated.
Morris is the founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, which claims a weekly attendance of 100,000, and was also a spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump.
Morris (pictured with his wife), 62, was accused by Cindy Clemishire of abusing her between 1982 and 1987, when she was between 12 and 16 years old.
He claims to have “repented” in March 1987 when the allegations became public and said he received “counseling and freedom ministry.”
Morris says he and his wife met with Clemishire and his family in October 1989 and “asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me.”
He also alleges that when he returned to the ministry, he did so with the “full blessing” of Clemishire’s father.
Clemishire told the Dallas Morning News that this is not entirely true.
‘Of course we want to forgive, we are called to forgive. But he has never had the blessing of anyone in my family to return to ministry,” he said.
“We don’t believe that anyone who has done something like this should be a supervisor for anyone in any industry, but especially the church.”
He also doesn’t believe Morris ever regretted his abuse and his statement demonstrates this.
“I don’t think it’s regret when someone calls a 12-year-old girl ‘young lady’ and tries to dismiss what happened as heavy petting,” Clemishire said.
Clemishire describes a scene in which Morris asked her to come to his room and talk to him, asking him to lie down on his bed.
Morris says he and his wife met with Clemishire and his family in October 1989 and “asked for their forgiveness and they kindly forgave me.”
‘I don’t think that’s regret. There is no child on Earth that anyone should do that to. It is simply unacceptable. There is no excuse.
“He didn’t come forward and confess. He was delivered,’ he said. ‘When someone is handed over, what do they regret? Do they regret being caught? Or are they really sorry for what they did?
The couple has tangled over this in court in the past, as in 2005 she sued him and wanted him to pay $50,000 to cover the costs of therapy.
Morris, through a lawyer, accused her of “seeking” sexual advances from the pastor and tried to get her to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange for $25,000. She didn’t accept the deal.
The pastor was part of Trump’s ‘evangelical advisory board’ for his 2016 presidential campaign and visited Gateway in 2020 for a panel discussion.
A statement on behalf of other Gateway Church leaders and elders also attempts to clear Morris.
‘Pastor Robert has been open and frank about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago, when he was in his twenties and before starting Gateway Church. ‘He has shared publicly from the pulpit the proper biblical steps he took in his long restoration process,’ they said.
Morris, however, did not lead the church in Saturday services and the church made no statements or granted interviews in response to the resurfaced allegations.
The couple has fought over this in court in the past, as in 2005 she sued him and wanted him to pay $50,000 to cover the costs of therapy.
Morris, through a lawyer, accused her of “seeking” sexual advances from the pastor and tried to get her to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange for $25,000. She didn’t accept the deal.
“At this time we are not granting interviews or providing additional statements,” Lawrence Swicegood, CEO of Gateway Media, said in a statement.
Clemishire has hired Boz Tchividjian to represent it in a potential new lawsuit, according to WFAA. Tchividjian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham.
‘My hope and prayer is that all of this is good. For the church, for the glory of God and so that other victims find freedom,’ he said.
Morris was never criminally charged and the statute of limitations for such a case has long expired.