Megachurch founder pleads guilty to sexual abuse of child — will only serve 6 months in jail

Cindy Clemishire accused the founding pastor of a popular Texas megachurch of sexually abusing her for five years beginning in 1982 when she was a 12-year-old child, and the 64-year-old former pastor pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Robert Morris previously admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a “young lady” while denying any intercourse was involved, but he has since admitted to the rape in a plea deal.

‘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.’

That deal had Morris admit to five felony counts of indecent conduct with a child but will allow him to serve only 6 months in jail of a suspended 10-year sentence.

He also has to pay restitution of $250,000 and will register as a sex offender.

Morris was reportedly a married 24-year-old traveling evangelist in 1982 when he began living with the Clemishire family after they met at a youth revival in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She recalled the abuse in disturbing detail and said that church officials allowed Morris to step down in 1987 for two years without going to law enforcement or making the matter public.

After Clemishire went public with her accusations in June 2024, Morris resigned from the church and was later indicted by a grand jury in Oklahoma on the five felony counts in March.

Morris was facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each charge.

“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 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.”

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Clemishire has filed a lawsuit against the church and certain church officials for allegedly covering up the crime when she first made her allegations known.

“For almost 40 years, Robert Morris and the leadership at Gateway have tried to blame me and put this in a flippant light of a relationship instead of what it was — a brutal crime against a 12-year-old child,” she said in a statement in June.

“My childhood and the woman I would have become died that day in 1982,” she added. “The person who abused me and the people who blatantly covered it up deserve to be held accountable. My hope is that bringing awareness to my case will help other victims and survivors feel hope, because the person who did this to me — and the people who enabled him and covered it up for decades — are being held accountable.”

Clemishire said she suspects there are other victims.

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