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Televangelist James Robinson Denies Meeting Victim and Her Family with Robert Morris

Milton Quintanilla

Televangelist James Robinson refuted claims in a video last week that he accompanied Gateway Church founder Robert Morris to meet with the woman who alleged that Morris abused her when she was 12 years old. As Crosswalk Headlines previously reported, Morries resigned as pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, after Cindy Cleminshire told The Wartburg Watch that he abused her for about four-and-a-half years in the 1980s, starting when she was 12. 

In a video posted to X last Friday, Robinson, alongside his wife Betty, denied the reports that he was aware of the meetings between Morris and the Cleminshire’s family or her age when the abuse took place.

“People have been asking questions about my relationship with Robert. Some people are claiming that I was present when Robert met with the victim’s family in 1987, and I knew the girl’s age when these incidents took place. This is false. It is, in fact, a lie,” Robison, the president of Life Outreach International, said. 

According to The Christian Post, he noted that Cleminshire corrected the record following the initial news report and that he possessed a statement from the victim’s attorney that he was not present during Morris’ meetings with her family. The televangelist also noted that he recently learned of Cleminshire’s age when news reports broke last week.

“I was stunned,” he said. “I was aware that Robert had had moral failures in his past. But I had no idea it was a crime involving a child. This is totally unacceptable. The way Robert handled it was absolutely incorrect. It was wrong. Abuse of a child should not be tolerated. I would do anything to appeal to Cindy and her family. Betty and I are praying for everyone who’s been hurt by these terrible events.”

In his 2011 book, Morris shared that he began traveling with Robinson within a year of becoming a Christian and that he eventually became an associate pastor at age 20. He also recalled getting a job with Robison’s prayer center about a month after he stepped away from ministry in the 1980s because “the Lord orchestrated the circumstances for me to step out of ministry.” 

In Morris’ book, however, he does not provide details regarding his temporary departure from ministry but admits that he struggled with pride.

“After a month of working nights as a security guard at Motel 6, I felt I had made great strides toward humility. I decided that perhaps I was ready to return to ministry,” he wrote. “So I checked back with James Robison’s ministry to see if they had any job openings. I was happy to discover they needed a morning supervisor at their prayer center, from 5 A.M. to 2 P.M.” 

Before his resignation, Morris confessed in a statement to CP that he was involved in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying,” which continued over the years. Although it only involved “kissing and petting and not intercourse,” he admitted he was in the wrong.

He added that he stepped away from the ministry after the allegation went public in 1987 to undergo counseling and returned to the ministry in 1989.

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Photo Credit: ©YouTube/lifetodaytv

Milton QuintanillaMilton 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.