Latest news with #RobertMorris
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Gateway Church announces staff layoffs amid "challenges" with its former pastor Robert Morris, tithing
After the child sexual abuse scandal involving its former pastor, Gateway Church in Southlake announced Wednesday that it's laying off some of its staff. In a letter to the congregation, Gateway elders said tithing "has not mirrored attendance," and due to the issues with its former lead pastor and church founder, Robert Morris, there has been a "significant drop in giving levels." The letter assured members that despite the challenges, the church maintains strong financial and accounting records. But after church leadership evaluated the situation, they determined "restructuring of our staff is necessary, requiring the tough but necessary step of staff reduction." "This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make, and we didn't come to it quickly or easily, and waited as long as we could. This decision was an important step to ensure we are able to minister to our church family well; however, it affects real people and members of our church family that we've loved and served alongside for years, which is what makes it so painful. And we are trying to love our staff well through this painful process," Tra Willbanks, a church elder, said in a separate statement Wednesday. Legal battle between Gateway and Morris Legal documents filed in May revealed that 63-year-old Morris is demanding millions of dollars in payment and retirement benefits from the church following his 2024 resignation. He stepped away after allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, identified as Cindy Clemishire, in the 1980s. Church lawyers wrote in the court filing that "amid the chaos of his conduct had unleashed upon Gateway and his community, Morris was laser-focused on securing his financial future." In September 2024, Morris' attorney sent a letter to Gateway that included a demand of more than $1 million that had accrued in Morris's retirement account, and claimed that the elders verbally promised him a retirement benefit of $800,000 per year until he turned 70. However, according to a retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing, the church would pay Morris $170,000 per year for 20 years. Sexual abuse allegations against Morris In March 2025, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by the victim, Clemishire. Morris has since pleaded not guilty. Clemishire claims Morris abused her from the age of 12 to 17. Morris was a traveling evangelist in his 20s and had become close to Clemishire's family. When the story broke, Gateway church elders said Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a young girl. Morris and the church had also said that Morris underwent "a two-year restoration process" that included him "stepping out of the ministry during that period." On June 12, Clemishire and her father filed a lawsuit against Morris, his wife and several current and former Gateway leaders, alleging that they knew about Morris' deceit.
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Former Texas megachurch pastor sued $1M for denying alleged sexual abuse of girl
Pastor Robert Morris applauds during a roundtable discussion at Gateway Church Dallas Campus, Thursday, June 11, 2020, in Dallas. Photo by Alex Brandon / Files / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman is suing a former Texas megachurch pastor for more than $1 million, alleging he denied her claim that he sexually assaulted her when she was just 12 years old. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Cindy Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, filed the lawsuit against Gateway Church founder Robert Morris and others for libel, malice, defamation, slander, failure to report, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and unjust enrichment, reports Fox affiliate KDFW. The lawsuit comes three months after the 63-year-old Morris was charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The suit, filed last week in Dallas County District court, claims Cindy, now 53, met Morris in 1981 at her Oklahoma church and both families became close. According to the claim, Cindy alleged that Morris touched her inappropriately while he stayed at the Clemishire home in 1982 and that the sexual abuse continued for more than four years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The court filings stated Morris's actions 'amounted to criminal sexual contact with a child, rape, and continuous sexual abuse of a child.' It's alleged Morris and his cohorts were dismissive of the sexual assault allegations, downplaying his actions as an 'inappropriate relationship,' an 'indiscretion,' 'his transgressions,' 'his moral failures' and an 'extramarital relationship.' Morris is alleged to have told his parishioners and public that Cindy consented to the acts and that she actually wanted to sleep with him. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The suit also claims that Morris, his wife, the church and others reaped financial benefits from hiding the alleged sexual abuses while harming 'the plaintiffs' reputation and exposing them to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, and financial injury, as well as impeaching their honesty, integrity, virtue and reputation.' Morris resigned from the church in June 2024 after reports alleging he molested Cindy when she was a child became public. Read More Sports Sunshine Girls Relationships Editorial Cartoons Relationships
Fox News
13-06-2025
- Fox News
Ex-megachurch founder hit with $1M lawsuit claiming sexual abuse and elaborate cover-up scheme
A former Texas megachurch pastor is being sued by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted and abused her when she was 12 years old. The suit, filed this week in Dallas County District court, accuses Gateway Church founder Robert Morris and others of libel, malice, defamation, slander, failure to report, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and unjust enrichment. They are seeking more than $1 million in damages. Cindy Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, filed the suit less than a year after sharing the allegations with a religious watchdog blog, The Wartburg Watch. Cindy, 53, claimed she met Morris in 1981 while he was preaching at her church in Oklahoma and their families became close. She said Morris touched her inappropriately while staying at her house in 1982, and continued for the next four-and-a-half years. An Oklahoma grand jury in March indicted Morris on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. He is currently out on bond. In the newly filed suit, Cindy alleges Morris' wife, sons and church members attempted to cover up the abuse for financial gain, according to a report from affiliate FOX 4. "[The] defendants acted in concert, cooperated with each other and conspired to maximize their profits through their unlawful and unjust course of action to fraudulently conceal and cover up the rape of Plaintiff," according to court documents. Morris resigned in June 2024 and later filed a lawsuit against the church, stating his "highly inappropriate" relationship with a minor was not a breach of contract, and Gateway Church should fulfill its contractual financial obligations to him. Church officials said he would have received millions in deferred compensation, additional retirement benefits and a severance payment, according to the report. Gateway Church declined Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- The Independent
Alleged child sex abuse victim of Gateway Church founder Robert Morris sues him for defamation
An Oklahoma woman who accused megachurch pastor Robert Morris of sexually assaulting her as a young girl is now seeking at least $1 million from the disgraced televangelist for, among other things, slander, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress over his public actions in the years since. In a 39-page lawsuit filed Thursday, Cindy Clemishire, who is now 55 and working as a real estate broker, says the 63-year-old Morris, his wife Deborah, their sons and numerous church elders all conspired to cover up the 'heinous' abuse she suffered at his hands. Gateway Church, which Morris founded 25 years ago in the affluent Dallas, Texas suburb of Southlake, quickly became one of the biggest congregations in the country, drawing 100,000 or more worshipers to its weekend services. 'Defendants have made millions of dollars from Gateway Church, writing and publishing books, speaking engagements, TV shows, radio shows, [and] The King's University… while preaching about sexual immorality and redemption all while concealing the true facts of Defendant Robert Morris's sexual abuse and rape of Plaintiff, whose abuse began while she was just 12 years old,' Clemishire's complaint contends. Morris, his family and Gateway Church leadership later downplayed his alleged crimes as 'nothing more than an 'inappropriate relationship,' an 'indiscretion,' 'his transgressions,' 'his moral failures' and an 'extramarital relationship,' deceiving thousands of church parishioners and the public with a false narrative that the sexual acts performed on the plaintiff as a minor child were consensual, or even worse, solicited,' Clemishire's attorneys said in a statement released after filing the suit in Dallas County District Court on behalf of her and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire. 'Instead,' the statement goes on, 'the lawsuit makes clear that the actions 'amounted to criminal sexual contact with a child, rape and continuous sexual abuse of a child,' for which the survivor is entitled to just compensation for damages.' In an email on Thursday, church spokeswoman Bonnie Curry told The Independent, "No comment to add from Gateway.' Morris, a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, first assaulted Clemishire on December 25, 1982, when he 'demanded' that Clemishire 'get into bed with him,' according to the complaint. At the time, the 22-year-old Morris was on the road as a traveling preacher, and had become friendly with Clemishire's family. The molestation continued for another five years, with Morris insisting to Clemishire that she 'can't ever tell anyone what just happened or it will ruin everything,' the complaint states. However, in 1987, it says Clemishire confided to a friend about Morris' 'wrongful and egregious actions.' Clemishire, who was then 17, then got a call from Deborah Morris, who said she 'forgave' Clemishire for what had happened, according to the complaint. This, the filing argues, 'allud[ed] that it was [Clemishire's] fault that [Morris'] husband had sexually assaulted and raped [her].' Morris would acknowledge in a 2014 sermon that he had been "sexually immoral" during his younger days, and a decade later told The Christian Post that when he was in his early 20s, he 'was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying.' 'It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,' Morris told the publication. 'This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years.' Over the past year, Morris has continued to defame Clemishire by claiming that 'his sexual battery, assault, and rape of [her] was an 'extramarital affair,'' implying that the pre-teen had 'initiated, sought and desired a sexual relationship' with him, her complaint maintains. 'Defendant Morris and/or other Defendants spread horrendous and damaging lies that it was Plaintiff that initiated and perpetuated these illegal acts,' the complaint states. 'Further, Defendants asserted that Plaintiffs forgave Defendant Morris, which was a lie.' In June 2024, Morris stepped down from his position at Gateway Church. His son, along with several other members of the church's board of elders, were placed on temporary leaves of absence while an outside team of investigators probed the allegations against Morris. In March 2025, an Oklahoma grand jury indicted Morris on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, based on Clemishire's claims. 'After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,' Clemishire said in a statement after the indictment was announced. 'Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.' Last month, Morris filed his own lawsuit against Gateway, arguing that while his behavior may have been 'inappropriate,' the church still owes him millions of dollars in severance, deferred compensation and retirement benefits. But, while church lawyers said Morris 'was laser-focused on securing his financial future,' the accusations against him amounted to a breach of contract, liberating Gateway from any previously agreed upon obligations. For her part, Clemishire is seeking actual, presumed and exemplary damages to be determined by a jury. 'We filed this lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Clemishire because, while criminal charges continue to progress, Morris and those who conspired with him deserve to be held civilly accountable for their actions as well,' attorney S. Alex Yaffe, one of the lawyers representing Clemishire, said on Thursday. 'The lawsuit and the crimes alleged speak for themselves and we look forward to seeing justice served for the Plaintiffs in this case.'
CBS News
13-06-2025
- CBS News
Alleged child sexual abuse victim Cindy Clemishire, father file suit against Robert Morris, his wife and Gateway Church
Cindy Clemishire, the woman at the center of the child sex abuse case involving Gateway Church founder Robert Morris, and her father have filed a lawsuit against the church founder, his wife and several current and former church leaders. The suit alleges the defendants knew about Robert Morris' deceit, hid it and made millions of dollars from his "moral failures and rape of Plaintiff, Cindy Clemishire." The lawsuit names Gateway Church, Robert Morris, Robert Morris' wife Deborah Morris, Thomas H. Miller, Jr., John D. Willbanks III, Kevin Grove, Jeremy Carrasco, Kenneth W. Fambro II, Gayland Lawshe, Dane Minor, Lawrence Swicegood, Steve Dulin and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association Inc. Miller, Willbanks, Grove, Carrasco, Fambro, Lawshe, Minor and Dulin are identified as Gateway Church elders and Swicegood as the former Executive Director of Media and Communications for Gateway. Deborah Morris, Robert Morris' wife, is listed a former leader of the women's ministry at Gateway. The scandal surrounding Gateway Church's Robert Morris The public controversy for the megachurch began in June, when Cindy Clemishire publicly claimed the church's founder, Robert Morris, sexually assaulted her starting in 1982 when she was 12 years old. Robert Morris was a traveling evangelist in his early 20s and had become close with her family. Those allegations were first published by The Wartburg Watch, a North Carolina-based church watchdog blog, and then picked up by The Christian Post. Cindy Clemishire told CBS News Texas the alleged abuse continued until 1987. Cindy Clemishire CBS News Texas Robert Morris acknowledged in a sermon in 2014 that he was "sexually immoral" when he was a young man and admitted to "inappropriate sexual behavior" In a statement to the Christian Post. "When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying," he said. "It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years." Church elders said Robert Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a 12-year-old. On June 18, Robert Morris resigned from his position as senior pastor at Gateway Church. Cindy Clemishire said she has mixed thoughts and feelings regarding his resignation and believes she is not the only victim. "Though I am grateful that he is no longer a pastor at Gateway, I am disappointed that the Board of Elders allowed him to resign," Cindy Clemishire wrote in a statement. "He should have been terminated." She rebuked church elders for knowing and acknowledging her claims of sexual abuse but intentionally embracing "the false narrative Robert Morris wanted them to believe." On June 23, protesters gathered outside the church as a church elder addressed the congregation for the first time after Cindy Clemishire's statements. "As an elder, I did not know the truth and, frankly, like many of you my wife and I are shocked, devastated and grieving," said Tra Willbanks, a Gateway Church elder. "I'd like to express my personal compassion for Cindy Clemishire, I can't imagine carrying a burden like that for so many years and I want to say to you, Cindy, I'm so sorry." Four members of the Gateway Church Board of Elders, including Robert Morris' son, were put on temporary leaves of absence as an outside legal team investigated the accusations against Robert Morris, the church said on June 28. Founded in 2000, the Southlake-based Gateway Church expanded to become one of the largest congregations in the nation, drawing approximately 100,000 attendees each weekend to its nine campuses. Robert Morris broadcast his weekly program live online to over 190 countries, reaching even wider audiences. Robert Morris indicted on 5 counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child in Oklahoma In March, Robert Morris was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from Cindy Clemishire's allegations. Morris, 63, was booked into the Osage County Sheriff's Office at 7:57 a.m. on Monday. By 8:11 a.m., just 14 minutes later, he had posted a $50,000 bond and was released, according to jail records. CBS News Texas / OCSO The indictment was announced by the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. A multi-county grand jury investigation resulted in five felony counts. "After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child," Cindy Clemishire said in a statement. "Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail." According to Drummond's office, the statute of limitations does not apply to this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time. A week later, Robert Morris surrendered to officials in Osage County. Online records showed he bonded out shortly after he turned himself in. Court records showed an Osage County judge set a $50,000 bond and ordered Robert Morris to surrender his passport to the local sheriff. Mack Martin, Robert Morris' attorney, declined to comment on the charges, but said he anticipated entering a not guilty plea on Robert Morris' behalf. Court documents reveal what Gateway Church may have known before abuse allegations CBS News Texas obtained court documents, filed in Tarrant County, related to a lawsuit against the church over retirement payments. They include a proposed announcement that he was going to make to the congregation, but it was never made public. According to Robert Morris' attorney, the proposed announcement was written by Morris in 2011. In it, Robert Morris admits to "inappropriate behavior" with an underage girl, but did not name Cindy Clemishire. That 2011 announcement was never made public because, in a letter in 2007 to the board of elders, the president suggested Robert Morris "should not mention the family or Cindy specifically by name as this would violate their privacy." Gateway Church released a statement that read, in part: "We have consistently and publicly said that there were elders and employees at Gateway who knew about this issue before it became public - and either didn't take action or didn't inquire further. That was fundamentally wrong - the church elders took action, and none of those individuals are a part of Gateway Church today." Robert Morris' million-dollar demand In May, 63-year-old Robert Morris demanded millions of dollars in payments and retirement benefits from the church following his resignation in 2024. Church lawyers wrote in the court filing that "amid the chaos of his conduct had unleashed upon Gateway and his community, Morris was laser-focused on securing his financial future." According to a retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing, the retirement benefit is not payable if Robert Morris is fired or resigns for failing to adhere to church policies and causing harm to the church. The church argued that if its founder is convicted of the criminal charges he faces in Oklahoma, it would have grounds to withhold the money. Damages The lawsuit states that Cindy Clemishire and her father have also suffered damages to their reputation and image, which could continue into the future. In a news release, attorneys for the Clemishires said they are seeking civil damages in excess of $1 million, including but not limited to loss of reputation, mental anguish, and economic losses, in an amount to be determined at trial. A jury trial has been requested. CBS News Texas reached out to Gateway Church, which said it had no comment at this time.
