Large Church Pastor and FormerTrump Adviser Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor
The founder of one of the largest megachurches in the United States, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young girl in Oklahoma during the 1980s period.
Morris, sixty-four, pleaded guilty on that day in the local court on multiple charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child. He was sentenced to a decade in prison, but under an agreement will serve only six months in local jail.
He will be listed as a sex offender and be required to pay a quarter million dollars in restitution.
Context of the Case
The disgraced pastor founded Gateway church in Southlake, Texas. He expanded it into one of the top 10 largest megachurches in the United States, with more than 25,000 visitors weekly.
The victim, fifty-five, the individual who came forward as the survivor of the abuse, was there in court as he pleaded guilty. In a prepared statement she told him: “It is impossible to have agreement from a child of twelve. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a minor. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sibling a family member also read a statement, stating: “You acted as if you were righteous, preaching from big pulpits. As you hid behind your facade, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”
Morris resigned from the church last year after Clemishire went public. She had spent years seeking justice for the abuse.
Specifics of the Abuse
The molestation began in 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with Clemishire’s family in their home, where he invited the girl into his bedroom.
The molestation continued for the following four years.
A leaked transcript of a phone call showed that in 2005, the pastor tried to bribe the victim into not speaking out, saying to her to “put a price on it”.
Downfall and Connections
Morris’s conviction marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his peak, he wrote several bestselling books and his teachings were transmitted globally.
He also served as a spiritual adviser to Donald Trump. He was part of the presidential advisory group during the initial Trump administration and was part of a campaign to mobilize evangelical voters for him in the recent election.
Trump also visited the church in 2020 where he commended the pastor and his leadership as “wonderful individuals with a stellar reputation”.
