Victim of Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris Says Church Was Aware of His Crime

The woman who accused Gateway Church founder Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was 12 during the 1980s claimed that his church had been aware of his crime prior to conducting an investigation this week, which resulted in his resignation from the ministry. “The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris’ Gateway email address. Former Gateway elder Tom Lane received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old,” Cindy Clemishire, now 54, said in a statement released Tuesday night by her attorney Boz Tchividjian, The Christian Post reports.

“Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse. His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse,” she insisted. “At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted to believe.”

As Crosswalk Headlines previously reported, Gateway Church announced that Morris resigned as lead pastor after the board of elders retained a law firm to investigate the claim that he sexually abused Clemishire over three decades ago when she was just 12 years old. According to Clemishire, the abuse began on December 25, 1982, and went on for about four-and-a-half years.

After Clemishire went public with the allegation last weekend, Morris told The Christian Post in a statement that he had engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” when he was a pastor in his early 20s. This prompted him to step away from the ministry for 2 years before being biblically restored in 1987.

Although previously stating that Morris was transparent with them about his past sin, the elders said in their latest statement that Morris did not share that the abuse was to a “12-year-old child.”

“Regretfully, prior to Friday, June 14, the elders did not have all the facts of the inappropriate relationship between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse. The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ’a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the elders explained.

“Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have. We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express our deep sympathy to the victim and her family,” the elders added.

In the announcement of Morris’ resignation, Gateway Church elders said they have retained the law firm of Haynes & Boone, LLP, to “conduct an independent, thorough, and professional review of the report of past abuse to ensure we have a complete understanding of the events from 1982-1987.”

According to its website, the firm has expertise in over 40 major legal practice areas, including crisis management.

Clemishire noted the firm’s expertise in helping their clients with “immediate and long-term strategies necessary to mitigate financial and reputational loss and stabilize in a crisis situation.”

“This does not appear to be an independent investigation, and this deeply concerns me,” she argued.

She also supported Tchividjian’s call for Gateway Church to expand on the investigation into Morris’ time leading the congregation.

“Just days ago, the Gateway elders released a statement saying, ‘Since the resolution of the 35-year-old matter, there have been no other moral failures.’ Now that they have allegedly just learned that he was being untruthful, why limit the investigation to his conduct between 1982 and 1987? Why not expand the investigation to his entire tenure at Gateway Church?” Tchividjian asked. “Also, why have they retained a law firm that specializes in ‘crisis management?’”

Speaking to USA Today, Tchividjian said that he is exploring “all options” legally, but due to the statute of limitations in place in the late 1980s for sexual abuse was “fairly short,” Morris cannot face criminal or civil charges.

“This just demonstrates the absolute importance of statute of limitations reform, both in criminal and civil cases,” Tchvidijian told the publication. “When somebody is traumatized as a child, for many, it takes decades to process that trauma to even be ready to speak out or do something about it.”

Despite being grateful over Morris’ resignation, Clemishire said she believes there are more victims who he has abused.

“This is just the beginning. I wholeheartedly and sadly believe I am not the only victim. I encourage anyone who has been sexually victimized by a leader at Gateway Church to take the bold step forward and say something,” she said on Tuesday.

“Now is the time. Please know that you will be supported and will not walk this journey alone. I hope and pray that the leadership at Gateway Church will echo this encouragement, knowing that this can be an opportunity to find the truth while providing help and restitution to victims.”

In light of the sex abuse allegations, Morris was dropped from being on Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board, according to a spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Morris hosted Trump at Gateway Church in June 2020 when the former president referred to him and fellow Pastor Steve Dulin as “great people with a great reputation.” Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, however, told The New York Times that he was not included this year.

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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.