Robert Morris, a former senior pastor who served on U.S. President Donald Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board in 2016, pleaded guilty on Thursday to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl more than 40 years ago.
Morris, 64, admitted in an Osage County courtroom in Oklahoma to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
Judge Cindy Pickerill accepted a plea agreement that gives him a suspended 10-year sentence.
Highlights
- Robert Morris, ex-pastor and former Trump evangelical advisor, pleaded guilty to abusing a 12-year-old girl 40+ years ago.
- Morris admitted to five felony counts, received a suspended 10-year sentence, 6 months jail, probation, and must register as a sex offender.
- Victim Cindy Clemishire accused Morris of 100+ abuse instances over 4.5 years, starting when she was 12 and he was 20.
Robert Morris, a former senior pastor, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child
Image credits: Osage County Jail
He will spend six months in Osage County Jail and serve the rest of his sentence on probation. He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.
The victim, Cindy Clemishire, accused Morris of abusing her for four-and-a-half years, starting from 1982. She was 12 when the abuse began, and Morris was 20 and working as a traveling evangelist.
Clemishire recalled there being more than 100 instances of abuse. She told The Wartburg Watch, a blog about sexual abuse within the church, that the abuse started during a Christmas visit to her family’s home in Oklahoma.
Clemishire described how Morris invited her into his room and told her to lie on her back. He then felt her breasts and under her panties.
“Never tell anyone about this,” Clemishire recalled Morris telling her. “It will ruin everything.”
She told the blog that he attempted to have sexual intercourse with her when she was 16. He was already a pastor by then.
Morris described it as “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a “young lady.”
“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,” he told The Christian Post.
Image credits: Cindy Clemishire to ABC News
Clemishire responded to this during Morris’ plea in the courtroom on Thursday.
“Let me be clear,” she told Morris. “There is no such thing as 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.”
She also called him a “pedophile, disguised as a preacher.”
Morris was indicted in March 2025 after Clemishire went public with her story in 2024.
Clemishire also gave a victim impact statement at the hearing.
“While you built a megachurch, authored books, and gained fame, I dropped out of college, endured divorces, [and] struggled with self-worth.”
She continued, “While you twisted your crimes into a story of ‘infidelity’ to protect your image, my family and I were left trying to explain the truth to pastors who looked the other way. I battled depression, made countless poor decisions, adding more shame to my life. And when I finally spoke, you tried to call it consensual.”
Morris, who did not apologize, kept his head down and his eyes closed during these statements.
Cindy Clemishire claimed she was abused more than 100 times over 4.5 years
Image credits: Gateway Church/YouTube
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond called the case “despicable” because Morris used his position as a pastor and “his position of trust and authority” to exploit a child.
“The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day,” he said.
Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, in 2000. In 2016, he joined Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board during the presidential campaign and later served on the president’s faith advisory council.
In 2020, he hosted Trump and other Republican leaders at his church for a roundtable event.
A spokesperson for Trump told The New York Times that Morris had no role in Trump’s 2024 campaign, and that Morris had resigned from his church after Clemishire went public with her allegations.
Morris’s attorney, Bill Mateja, said in a news statement, “Pastor Robert made it a point to ask that I tell Ms. Clemishire and her family that he sincerely apologizes for his conduct and asks for their forgiveness.”
Clemishire said after the hearing that justice had finally been served. “The man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars,” she said.
“My hope is that many victims hear my story, and it can help lift their shame and allow them to speak up. I hope that laws continue to change and new ones are written so children and victims’ rights are better protected.”
“Today is a new beginning for me, my family and friends who have been by my side through this horrendous journey. I leave this courtroom today not as a victim, but a survivor,” she added.
In a March interview with USA Today, Clemishire called on any other victims to come forward.
“Any and all victims, come forward ... I just don't believe that I’m the only person,” she said.
Morris still faces a civil lawsuit in Texas accusing him of defaming Clemishire, including when he claimed she had forgiven him.