In a new court filing, former Pastor Robert Morris is alleging that the elders of Gateway Church were fully aware of his alleged child sex abuse.
Morris, who founded the multisite megachurch headquartered in Southlake, Texas, resigned in June 2024 when accusations came to light that in the 1980s he had sexually abused then 12-year-old Cindy Clemishire.
Morris was in his early 20s at the time of the alleged abuse.
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While Morris had in the past been open about an “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady,” it was not widely known before June 2024 that the “young lady” in question was Clemishire or that she was 12 years old at the time of the sexual contact.
Morris now faces criminal charges in Oklahoma, where the alleged abuse occurred. If convicted of all five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, he could face up to 100 years of prison time.
Morris is also in the midst of a legal battle with Gateway Church regarding retirement compensation. While Morris had expected a retirement package worth millions of dollars, the church is alleging that Morris breached his contract and is no longer entitled to that amount.
In a court document that was filed on Friday (May 30) and obtained by CBS News, Morris claimed that the elder board was aware of the details of his alleged abuse of Clemishire as early as 2011, when Morris had planned to publicly disclose that Clemishire was “underaged” at the time of his sexual contact with her.
The announcement was never made public.
Following Morris’ resignation from Gateway, the church contracted a third-party investigator to provide a report detailing who knew about Morris’ alleged abuse and failed to act. In November 2024, church elder Tra Willbanks told the congregation that the investigation revealed that some elders and staff members knew about the alleged abuse and others “had enough information that should have led them to ask more questions.”
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“Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated at this church,” Willbanks said. “As of today, no individual in either group serves as an elder, is employed by or works at Gateway Church. They have been removed.”
