Megachurch Minister and Ex-Trump Adviser Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor
The head of one of the largest megachurches in the US, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s.
The pastor, sixty-four, entered a guilty plea on Thursday in the local court on multiple charges of inappropriate acts with a minor. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but as part of a plea deal will only serve six months in county jail.
He will register as a registered offender and be required to pay $250,000 in restitution.
Context of the Legal Matter
The disgraced pastor established Gateway church in the city of Southlake, the state of Texas. He expanded it into among the ten biggest megachurches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand visitors weekly.
The victim, fifty-five, the woman who publicly identified herself as the victim of Morris’s sexual abuse, was there in court as he admitted his guilt. In a written declaration she stated: “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 woman but a minor. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sibling Karen Black also made a declaration, saying: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve been aware you are simply a predator.”
The pastor resigned from the congregation the previous year after Clemishire made her story known. She had devoted many years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Specifics of the Incidents
The molestation started in the year 1982 when Morris, at age twenty-one, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with the family in their residence, where he asked the girl into his bedroom.
The molestation continued for the next four-year period.
A leaked transcript of a conversation showed that in 2005, Morris tried to bribe the victim into silence, saying to her to “name your price”.
Downfall and Connections
Morris’s conviction signals a dramatic downfall for the pastor. At his height, he authored multiple popular books and his sermons were transmitted around the world.
He also served as a spiritual adviser to the former president. He was part of the White House spiritual advisory committee during the initial Trump administration and was involved in an effort to mobilize evangelical voters for him in last year’s presidential campaign.
The former president also visited Gateway church in 2020 where he commended Morris and his leadership as “great people with a great reputation”.
