Megachurch Pastor and FormerTrump Counselor Admits Guilt to Sexual Abuse of a Minor
The head of one of the largest megachurches in the US, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to molesting a 12-year-old girl in Oklahoma during the 1980s.
The pastor, sixty-four, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in Osage county district court on multiple charges of lewd or indecent 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 county jail.
He will register as a sex offender and be required to pay $250,000 in compensation.
Background of the Case
The former minister founded the church in Southlake, Texas. He grew it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand visitors each week.
Cindy Clemishire, fifty-five, the woman who came forward as the survivor of the abuse, was there in court as he pleaded guilty. In a written declaration she stated: “There is no such thing as consent from a child of twelve. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a young woman but a child. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sibling Karen Black also read a statement, stating: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve known you are simply a predator.”
Morris resigned from the church the previous year after the victim went public. She had spent years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Details of the Abuse
The abuse started in the year 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with the family in their home, where he asked the girl into his bedroom.
The molestation persisted for the following four years.
A leaked transcript of a phone call showed that in 2005, Morris attempted to pay off Clemishire into not speaking out, saying to her to “put a price on it”.
Fall from Grace and Associations
The guilty verdict marks a remarkable fall for the pastor. At his height, he wrote several bestselling books and his sermons were transmitted around the world.
He also became a spiritual adviser to the former president. He was part of the White House spiritual advisory committee during the initial Trump administration and was involved in an effort to mobilize religious voters for him in last year’s presidential campaign.
The former president also visited Gateway church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his leadership as “wonderful individuals with a great reputation”.
