Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris pleads guilty to child abuse

A Pastor of Texas who founded one of the largest congregations of the country’s mega-churches pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl in Oklahoma in the 1980s.

Robert Morris, 64, pleaded the guilty plea during a hearing on Thursday, admitting accusations of crime of obscene or indecent laws with a child.

As part of the advocacy agreement, the former Gateway Church chief received a 10 -year sentence, but will only be serving six months in prison and will not be on the rest of the time.

He must also register as a sex offender and pay $ 250,000 (£ 185,000) in return.

Morris attended the hearing in a courthouse in Pawhuska, in Oklahoma, alongside his wife, his adult children and several of their spouses, according to the American BBC partner, CBS News.

He was handcuffed and detained after Thursday’s hearing, reports NBC News.

The accusations arise from the mistreatment of Morris with regard to Cindy Clemisher at the age of 12 in 1982, according to the Oklahoma prosecutor’s office.

On Thursday, Ms. Clemishire told Morris through tears that her abuses had “rushing all the parts of her life”, according to NBC News.

Morris worked as a traveling evangelist and lived with Cindy’s family in Hominy, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, she said, Morris mistreated her for four years.

According to NBC.

Ms. Clemishire, now 55 years old, first accused the pastor publicly of having sexually abused her in 2024, leading Gateway to announce that he has resigned.

He published a statement saying that he had a “moral failure” with a “young woman”. The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office started a investigation shortly after.

Speaking Thursday before the court, Ms. Clemashire said that there was “no consent of her 12 -year -old child”.

“We have never been in an” inappropriate relationship “,” she said. “I was not a” young woman “but a child.”

She said that she had first informed her parents and her leaders of the abuse church in 1987, but no one called the police.

Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000. At its peak, the group had 100,000 active participants, with nine locations in Texas and the surrounding area, depending on the church.

President Donald Trump appointed Morris his spiritual advisor and a member of his failing advisory committee in 2016.