Texas megachurch pastor pleads guilty to child abuse

A Texas pastor who founded one of the largest megachurch congregations in the country pleaded guilty on Thursday to sexually abusing a girl of 12 in Oklahoma in the 1980s.

Robert Morris, 64, entered the guilty plea during a hearing on Thursday, admitting to felony charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

As a part of the plea agreement, the former leader of Gateway Church was handed a 10-year sentence, but will only serve six months in jail and be on probation for the rest of the time.

He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 (£185,000) in restitution.

Morris attended the hearing at a courthouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, alongside his wife, his adult children and several of their spouses, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

He was handcuffed and detained after Thursday’s hearing, NBC News reports.

The charges stem from Morris’ abuse of Cindy Clemishere when she was 12 years old in 1982, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office.

In court on Thursday, Ms Clemishire told Morris through tears that his abuse had “rippled into every part of her life”, according to NBC News.

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Morris was working as a traveling evangelist and was living with Cindy’s family in Hominy, Oklahoma. During that time, she said, Morris abused her for four years.

Ms Clemishere and her family were in court on Thursday for Morris’ plea, according to NBC.

Ms Clemishire, now 55, first publicly accused the pastor of sexually abusing her in 2024, leading Gateway to announce that he was stepping down.

He released a statement saying he had had a “moral failure” with a “young lady”. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office began an investigation shortly after.

Speaking in court on Thursday, Ms Clemishire said there was “no such thing as consent from a 12-year-old child”.

“We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship,'” she said. “I was not a ‘young lady’ but a child.”

She said she had first told her parents and leaders at the church about the abuse in 1987 but no one called the police.

Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000. At its peak, the group had 100,000 active attendees, with nine locations in Texas and surrounding areas, according to the church.

President Donald Trump named Morris his spiritual adviser and a member of his envangelical advisory committee in 2016.