The head of among the biggest megachurches in the United States, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s.
Morris, sixty-four, pleaded guilty on Thursday in Osage county district court on five criminal counts of lewd or indecent acts with a minor. He was given a sentence to a decade in custody, but as part of a plea deal will serve only six months in county jail.
He will be listed as a registered offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.
Context of the Legal Matter
The former minister established Gateway church in Southlake, the state of Texas. He expanded it into one of the top 10 largest large churches in the United States, with over twenty-five thousand attendees each week.
The victim, 55, the individual who publicly identified herself as the survivor of the abuse, was present in the courtroom as he pleaded guilty. In a prepared statement she told him: “There is no such thing as consent from a child of twelve. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship’. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a minor. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sister Karen Black also made a declaration, stating: “You acted as if you were righteous, speaking from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve been aware you are nothing but a predator.”
Morris stepped down from the congregation the previous year after the victim made her story known. She had devoted many years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Details of the Abuse
The abuse started in 1982 when Morris, then 21, was a travelling evangelist. He was a guest of Clemishire’s family in their home, where he asked the girl into his bedroom.
The molestation persisted for the next four-year period.
A revealed recording of a conversation showed that in 2005, Morris attempted to pay off the victim into not speaking out, saying to her to “name your price”.
Downfall and Associations
Morris’s conviction signals a dramatic downfall for the minister. At his peak, he authored several bestselling books and his teachings were broadcast globally.
He also became a religious counselor to Donald Trump. He joined the White House spiritual advisory committee during the first Trump presidency and was involved in an effort to organize religious voters for him in the recent election.
Trump also attended Gateway church in 2020 where he commended Morris and his senior team as “wonderful individuals with a stellar reputation”.
