Large Church Pastor and Ex-Trump Counselor Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Abuse
The head of one of the largest large congregations in the United States, Robert Morris, has pleaded guilty to molesting a young girl in Oklahoma during the 1980s.
Morris, sixty-four, entered a guilty plea on that day in the local court on multiple charges of inappropriate acts with a minor. He was given a sentence to 10 years in custody, but as part of a plea deal will only serve six months in county jail.
He will be listed as a registered offender and pay a quarter million dollars in compensation.
Context of the Legal Matter
The former minister founded the church in Southlake, the state of Texas. He grew it into one of the top 10 largest megachurches in the United States, with over twenty-five thousand visitors each week.
Cindy Clemishire, fifty-five, the woman who publicly identified herself as the survivor of the abuse, was there in court as he admitted his guilt. In a written declaration she stated: “It is impossible to have consent from a 12-year-old child. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship’. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a child. You committed a crime against me.”
Her sister Karen Black also made a declaration, saying: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from large platforms. As you hid behind your facade, we’ve been aware you are simply a predator.”
Morris stepped down from the church last year after the victim went public. She had devoted many years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Details of the Incidents
The molestation began in 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with the family in their home, where he asked the child into his room.
The molestation persisted for the next four-year period.
A revealed recording of a phone call revealed that in 2005, Morris tried to bribe the victim into not speaking out, saying to her to “put a price on it”.
Downfall and Associations
Morris’s conviction signals a dramatic downfall for the minister. At his height, he wrote several bestselling books and his sermons were transmitted globally.
He also served as a spiritual adviser to the former president. He joined the presidential advisory group during the initial Trump administration and was involved in an effort to mobilize evangelical voters for him in the recent election.
Trump also attended the church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his leadership as “wonderful individuals with a stellar reputation”.
