When former Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris, 63, turned himself in to Oklahoma authorities on March 17, he surrendered his passport, was booked into jail, and subsequently released on a $50,000 bond, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office.
The Gateway Church founder is accused of five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
He is scheduled to return to court on May 9 to face allegations involving Cindy Clemishire, 55, for incidents dating back to the 1980s.
Facts About Robert Morris
Morris founded Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas metro area in 2000 and worked as a pastor there until his resignation. More than 100,000 people attend the megachurch every weekend, and there are 10 locations, including in Jackson, Wyoming.After Clemishire publicly discussed her experience, Morris resigned from the leadership at Gateway Church last year.
Morris previously served on President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board.
The church did not respond to requests for comment by NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times, by press time but said in a statement last week that its members are praying for Clemishire and “all of those impacted by this terrible situation.”
Cindy Clemishire’s Abuse Allegations
Cindy Clemishire told authorities that Morris was lodging at her parents’ home in Hominy, Oklahoma when she was 12 years old and that’s when the abuse allegedly began. The Attorney General’s office describes Morris as a traveling evangelist at the time.The indictment alleges there were other incidents of abuse in January 1983 and January 1985.
Clemishire did not respond to requests for comment but said in a statement published by The Associated Press on March 17, “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.”
Details of the Indictment
A multi-county grand jury began convening in Oklahoma City on Dec. 16, 2024, to investigate the allegations and issued a five-count indictment on March 12.Morris is facing 20 years in prison for each of the five charges. Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time, according to the Attorney General’s office, and as a result, the statute of limitations does not apply.
Morris’s Response to the Allegations
When asked about the allegations last year by The Christian Post, Morris said in a statement that he was “involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying” in his early 20s.“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,” Morris said. “This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years.”
Although his attorney Mack Martin did not respond to requests for comment by NTD on March 18, The Associated Press reported that Martin said Morris will plead not guilty.
“This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position,” Drummond said. “The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”
