More than a year after resigning in disgrace from the megachurch he founded, Robert Morris has pleaded guilty to child sex abuse and will serve six months in prison. Responses to the sentencing are mixed.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, was charged in March after Cindy Clemishire came forward in June 2024 to allege that Morris sexually assaulted her starting when she was just 12 years old.
The abuse occurred in the 1980s while Morris was a traveling evangelist who would occasionally stay at Clemishire’s home in Oklahoma. Morris was in his early 20s at the time of the abuse. He went on to found Gateway in 2000, and he spent the next two decades growing the congregation into a multisite megachurch.
After Clemishire came forward and Morris resigned, Gateway Church conducted an internal investigation and found that some leaders in the church knew of Morris’ abuse of Clemishire. Others knew enough that they were morally culpable for not asking more questions. All these leaders were removed from their positions by the remaining church elders.
If convicted by a jury of the five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child against him, Morris could have faced up to a 100-year prison sentence. Instead, he agreed to a plea deal and received a 10-year sentence.
All but six months of the sentence is suspended.
Morris will also be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life and will pay restitution to Clemishire.
Following Morris’ plea and sentencing, Cindy Clemishire said in a statement that “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.”
“My hope is that many victims hear my story, and it can help lift their shame and allow them to speak up,” said Clemishire. “I hope that laws continue to change and new ones are written so children and victims’ rights are better protected. I hope that people understand the only way to stop child sexual abuse is to speak up when it happens or is suspected.”
