Large Church Minister and FormerTrump Adviser Admits Guilt to Child Sexual Abuse
The head of among the biggest large congregations in the United States, the pastor, has admitted guilt to molesting a 12-year-old girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s.
The pastor, 64, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in the local court on multiple charges of inappropriate acts with a child. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but as part of a plea deal will only serve half a year in local jail.
He will register as a registered offender and pay a quarter million dollars in compensation.
Background of the Case
The former minister founded the church in the city of Southlake, Texas. He expanded it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand visitors each week.
Cindy Clemishire, 55, the woman who came forward as the survivor of Morris’s sexual abuse, was present in the courtroom as he pleaded guilty. In a prepared statement she told him: “It is impossible to have consent from a child of twelve. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship’. I was not a young woman but a child. You committed a crime against me.”
Her sister a family member also made a declaration, saying: “You acted as if you were righteous, speaking from big pulpits. As you concealed your true self, we’ve been aware you are nothing but a predator.”
Morris resigned from the congregation the previous year after Clemishire made her story known. She had spent years seeking justice for the abuse.
Details of the Incidents
The molestation started in 1982 when the pastor, at age twenty-one, was a itinerant preacher. He was a guest of Clemishire’s family in their home, where he invited the girl into his room.
The abuse persisted for the following four years.
A revealed recording of a conversation showed that in 2005, Morris tried to bribe Clemishire into silence, telling her to “put a price on it”.
Fall from Grace and Associations
The guilty verdict marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his peak, he wrote multiple popular books and his sermons were transmitted globally.
He also served as a religious counselor to the former president. He joined the presidential advisory group during the first Trump presidency and was involved in an effort to organize religious voters for him in the recent election.
Trump also attended Gateway church in 2020 where he praised Morris and his leadership as “great people with a stellar reputation”.
