Fallen Megachurch Pastor Robert Morris Sentenced After Shocking Guilty Plea in Child Sex Abuse Case
Former Gateway Church founder and evangelical figure Robert Morris has pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child, concluding a decades-long chapter of concealed abuse. The 63-year-old pastor, once hailed as a spiritual leader to thousands across Texas, accepted a plea deal that includes six months in jail, a 10-year suspended sentence, and mandatory sex offender registration. Morris was also ordered to pay $270,000 in restitution to his victim, Cindy Clemishire, who bravely came forward with claims that he molested her when she was just 12 years old in the 1980s. Her testimony, which exposed the dark underbelly of a revered ministry, sent shockwaves through evangelical circles.
Clemishire’s courage to confront her abuser not only spurred Morris’s resignation from Gateway Church in 2024 but also reignited national conversations about accountability within religious leadership. “I am not a victim—I am a survivor,” Clemishire said in a powerful statement read in court, reminding many that faith without justice is hollow. Once one of America’s most influential pastors, leading a 31,000-member congregation and authoring multiple bestsellers, Morris now faces the consequences of a life lived under false light. His guilty plea marks a sobering reckoning for a faith community grappling with betrayal from within.
