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The founder of one of the largest large congregations in the United States, the pastor, has admitted guilt to molesting a 12-year-old girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s period.

Morris, sixty-four, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in the local court on multiple charges of lewd or indecent acts with a minor. He was given a sentence to a decade in prison, but as part of a plea deal will serve only six months in local jail.

He will register as a sex offender and be required to pay a quarter million dollars in compensation.

Background of the Legal Matter

The former minister established Gateway church in Southlake, the state of Texas. He expanded it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand visitors weekly.

Cindy Clemishire, 55, the individual who publicly identified herself as the victim of the abuse, was present in the courtroom as he admitted his guilt. In a written declaration she told him: “It is impossible to have consent from a child of twelve. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a young woman but a child. You committed a crime against me.”

Her sibling Karen Black also read a statement, stating: “You acted as if you were righteous, speaking from large platforms. As you hid behind your facade, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”

The pastor resigned from the congregation last year after Clemishire went public. She had devoted many years trying to hold her abuser accountable.

Specifics of the Abuse

The molestation started in 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a travelling evangelist. He was a guest of Clemishire’s family in their home, where he invited the girl into his room.

The abuse persisted for the following four years.

A revealed recording of a phone call showed that in 2005, the pastor attempted to pay off the victim into not speaking out, telling her to “name your price”.

Downfall and Connections

The guilty verdict signals a dramatic downfall for the pastor. At his peak, he authored several bestselling books and his sermons were broadcast around the world.

He also served as a religious counselor to Donald Trump. He joined 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 the church in 2020 where he commended Morris and his senior team as “wonderful individuals with a stellar reputation”.