Robert Morris, former Texas megachurch pastor and Trump adviser, indicted for child sex crimes

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Robert Morris, the Dallas-area megachurch pastor who resigned last year amid sexual abuse allegations, has been indicted in Oklahoma for child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s.

Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation’s largest megachurches — has been particularly active in politics. In 2020, Trump held a “Roundtable on Transition to Greatness” there that was attended by then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other prominent Republicans.

Morris faces five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said in a Wednesday evening press release.

The indictment comes less than a year after Morris resigned from Gateway Church in Southlake after an adult woman, Cindy Clemishire, said Morris repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was a child in Oklahoma in the 1980s. Morris was at the time working as a traveling preacher.

In a Wednesday text message, Clemishire said through an attorney that she was grateful for the indictments.

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” she said. “Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.”

Clemishire’s disclosure came as the Dallas religious community was still reeling from a handful of recent sex abuse scandals. Since then, at least a dozen Dallas-area churches or pastors have been accused of committing or concealing sexual misconduct — allegations that have ensnared some of the area’s most prominent leaders and institutions.

Few, if any, were more high-profile than Morris, who steadily involved himself in state and national politics after founding Gateway in 2000. In 2017, Morris was tapped by Gov. Greg Abbott to help support the so-called “Bathroom Bill” that sought to ban transgender people from using their preferred bathroom — in part by arguing that it would allow children to be sexually abused.

During Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Morris was among at least three other Dallas-area religious leaders who served on Trump’s evangelical advisory board. And in 2021, Morris was part of an effort to mobilize conservatives and evangelicals ahead of Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.

As Morris’ national political spotlight grew, so did his church’s local footprint. For years, Morris and Gateway would show slates of local school board candidates on the church’s massive screens in the lead up to elections — potentially in violation of federal rules that prohibit overt political activity by churches.

“Many of you see what Satan has been trying to do even in our school systems,” Morris told some of the church’s roughly 25,000 members in 2023, before showing a list of Republican candidates.

Those tactics have since been replicated at nearby congregations such as Mercy Culture Church. The Fort Worth church was founded with financial support from Gateway, and has become a staple of local Republican circles, often hosting local elected Republicans and the chair of the Texas GOP.

Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, is also a pastor at Mercy Culture. Schatzline was among numerous Republican lawmakers who called on Morris to resign after Clemishire came forward last summer.

Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Dallas, joined those calls, and vowed to use this legislative session to pursue bills that would give more rights to victims of childhood sexual abuse — including extending the time period that victims have to file lawsuits against their attackers or those who enabled them.

This session, multiple bills have been filed that would broaden civil statutes of limitation, allowing those like Clemishire to sue those responsible for their attacks and be compensated for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime costs associated with childhood abuse.

In a Wednesday text message, Clemishire’s attorney Boz Tchividjian said she has been working behind-the-scenes with advocates for such reforms. “I don’t know if they have gotten to the point of testifying committees,” he said. “But I have no doubt she will do so when that time comes.”

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