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The head of one of the largest large congregations in the United States, Robert Morris, has pleaded guilty to molesting a young girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s period.

The pastor, 64, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in Osage county district court on five criminal counts of inappropriate acts with a child. He was given a sentence to 10 years in prison, but under an agreement will serve only six months in county jail.

He will be listed as a registered offender and be required to pay a quarter million dollars in restitution.

Background of the Case

The disgraced pastor established Gateway church in Southlake, Texas. He grew it into one of the top 10 largest megachurches in the United States, with over twenty-five thousand attendees each week.

Cindy Clemishire, fifty-five, the woman who came forward as the survivor of the abuse, was there in court as he admitted his guilt. In a written declaration 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 performed a criminal act against me.”

Her sibling a family member also made a declaration, stating: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from large platforms. As you hid behind your facade, we’ve been aware you are nothing but a predator.”

The pastor resigned from the congregation last year after the victim made her story known. She had devoted many years seeking justice for the abuse.

Details of the Incidents

The abuse began in the year 1982 when Morris, at age twenty-one, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with Clemishire’s family in their residence, where he asked the child into his room.

The molestation persisted for the following four years.

A leaked transcript of a phone call revealed that in 2005, the pastor tried to bribe Clemishire into silence, saying to her to “put a price on it”.

Downfall and Connections

Morris’s conviction marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his peak, he authored multiple popular books and his sermons were broadcast globally.

He also became a religious counselor to Donald Trump. He joined the White House spiritual advisory committee during the initial Trump administration and was involved in an effort to organize religious voters for him in the recent election.

The former president also attended Gateway church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his leadership as “wonderful individuals with a great reputation”.