Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris resigns three days after confessing to engaging in ‘sexual behavior’ with a child – as his church issues blistering statement

The pastor of a Texas megachurch and former adviser to Donald Trump has resigned from his ministry after admitting he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

Robert Morris, 62, the founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, which claims a weekly attendance of 100,000, faced the allegations from former family friend Cindy Clemishire.

Morris had previously admitted to “inappropriate sexual conduct with a young lady” without specifying Clemishire’s age, saying the abuse took place from 1982 to 1987, when she was between 12 and 16 years old.

Gateway Church’s Council of Elders sent a statement Tuesday confirming their acceptance of Morris’ resignation. Morris has not made any public statement.

The church previously supported Morris, saying he had been “open and forthright about a moral failing he suffered more than 35 years ago,” but now calls the behavior unacceptable in their statement after the victim’s age was discovered.

“The elders’ previous understanding was that Morris’ extramarital affair, which he had discussed many times during his ministry, involved ‘a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” they said.

“Even though it occurred many years before the founding of Gateway, as leaders of the Church we regret that we did not have the information we have today.”

In response, the church hired an independent law firm to review the allegations Fox 4.

“We are heartbroken and shocked by what has come to light in recent days, and we extend our deepest condolences to the victim and her family. In the interests of the victim, we are grateful that this situation has come to light. We know many have been affected by this, we understand your pain and we are deeply sorry.”

Clemishire, who went public with her allegations and revealed her identity on Friday, said Morris was a traveling preacher when she met her and her family at their church in Oklahoma in 1981.

The two families — including Morris’ wife and son — became close, and Clemishire, now 54, alleged that Morris’ abuse began when he stayed at her family home in Tulsa on Christmas 1982.

She describes a scene in which Morris asked her to come to his room and talk to him, and asked her to lie on his bed.

Morris began touching her inappropriately, with Clemishire claiming he touched her stomach, then her chest and then under her pants.

‘I vividly remember everything I wore and what the pajamas felt like. They were light pink, and it was a top with bloomers, and I had underwear on and bloomers and the top and a robe that clicked over it,” she said.

Clemishire adds that after the alleged abuse occurred, Morris “told me I could never tell anyone because it would ruin everything.”

She says he would continue to isolate and abuse her for the next four and a half years before she finally spoke out, first to a family friend and then to her parents.

Clemishire’s father demanded Morris be removed from office and she claims he did so for two years to undergo “restoration.” In 1989 he returned to preaching.

Morris, in turn, admitted that he had done wrong, although he never admitted in a statement that Clemishire was a minor at the time. The Christian Post on Saturday.

“In my early 20s, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady at a house where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened several times over the next few years,” he said.

He claims to have ‘repented’ in March 1987 when the allegations became public and said he had been given ‘counseling and ministry of liberty’.

Morris says he and his wife met Clemishire and her family in October 1989 and “asked for their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me.”

He also claims that when he returned to the ministry, he did so with the “full blessing” of Clemishire’s father.

Clemishire told the Dallas Morning News that this is not entirely the truth.

‘Of course we want to forgive, we are called to forgive. But he has never had the blessing in my family to be back in ministry,” she said.

“We don’t believe that someone who did something like this should be an overseer for anyone in any industry, but especially not in the church.”

She also doesn’t believe Morris ever truly repented for his abuse and his statement proves that.

“I don’t think it’s contrite for someone to call a 12-year-old a ‘young lady’ and try to dismiss what happened as just a heavy pat-down,” Clemishire said.

‘I don’t think that’s remorse. There is not a child on earth to whom anyone would ever have to do that. It’s simply unacceptable. There is no excuse whatsoever.’

“He didn’t come forward to confess. He was reported,” she said. ‘If someone is reported, what does he or she regret? Do they regret being caught? Or do they really repent of what they did?’

The pair have argued about this in court in the past, as she sued him in 2005 and wanted him to pay $50,000 to cover therapy costs.

Morris, through an attorney, accused her of “seeking” the pastor’s sexual advances and tried to get her to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $25,000. She didn’t take the deal.

The pastor served on Trump’s “evangelical advisory board” for his 2016 presidential campaign and visited Gateway in 2020 for a panel discussion.

“We are not conducting interviews or providing additional statements at this time,” Gateway Media Executive Director Lawrence Swicegood said in a statement.

Clemishire has hired Boz Tchividjian to represent her in another potential lawsuit WFAA. Tchividjian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham.

“My hope and prayer is that this will all be good. For the church, for God’s glory, and for other victims to find freedom,” she said.

Morris has never been criminally charged and the statute of limitations for such a case has long since expired.