Large Church Pastor and Ex-Trump Adviser Admits Guilt to Child Sexual Abuse
The founder of one of the largest large congregations in the United States, Robert Morris, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s period.
Morris, 64, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in Osage county district court on multiple charges of inappropriate acts with a child. He was given a sentence to 10 years in prison, but under an agreement will serve only six months in local jail.
He will register as a sex offender and pay a quarter million dollars in compensation.
Context of the Case
The disgraced pastor established Gateway church in the city of Southlake, the state of Texas. He expanded it into among the ten biggest large churches in the United States, with over twenty-five thousand visitors weekly.
The victim, 55, the woman who came forward as the survivor of the abuse, was present in the courtroom as he pleaded guilty. In a written declaration she told him: “There is no such thing as consent from a 12-year-old child. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship’. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a minor. You committed a crime against me.”
Her sibling Karen Black also made a declaration, stating: “You acted as if you were righteous, preaching from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”
Morris resigned from the church the previous year after Clemishire made her story known. She had devoted many years seeking justice for the abuse.
Details of the Incidents
The molestation began in the year 1982 when Morris, then 21, was a travelling evangelist. He stayed with the family in their residence, where he asked the child into his bedroom.
The molestation continued for the following four years.
A revealed recording of a phone call showed that in 2005, Morris tried to bribe the victim into not speaking out, saying to her to “name your price”.
Fall from Grace and Associations
Morris’s conviction signals a dramatic downfall for the minister. At his peak, he authored multiple popular books and his sermons were transmitted globally.
He also became a religious counselor to the former president. He joined the White House spiritual advisory committee during the first Trump presidency and was involved in an effort to organize evangelical voters for him in last year’s presidential campaign.
Trump also attended the church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his leadership as “great people with a stellar reputation”.
