Robert Morris

Robert Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas in 2000 and grew it into one of the largest megachurches in America, with over 100,000 weekly attendees at its peak. He served on President Donald Trump's evangelical advisory board, hosted Trump at Gateway Church in 2020, and was a bestselling author — one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the country. On Christmas Day 1982, when Morris was 22 years old and working as a traveling evangelist, he began sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire, who was 12 years old. He was staying with her family in Hominy, Oklahoma. The abuse continued for over four years — Clemishire stated she was molested more than 100 times. When she was 17, she told her parents, and her father demanded Morris leave ministry or he would go to police. Morris stepped away briefly but returned to ministry within two years and went on to found Gateway Church. Clemishire attempted to sue in 2005 but gained little traction. In 2007, Morris's attorney acknowledged the dates but attempted to blame the 12-year-old girl for 'initiating' the contact. Morris offered to settle only if she signed an NDA; she refused. The allegations were first published on June 14, 2024, by The Wartburg Watch. Morris resigned from Gateway Church on June 18, 2024. In March 2025, he was indicted on five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child in Oklahoma. On October 2, 2025, Morris pleaded guilty to all five counts and received a 10-year suspended sentence with six months to be served in county jail, sex offender registration, and $270,000 in restitution.