Robert Morris, the founding pastor of Southlake-based Gateway Church, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in his criminal child sex abuse case Thursday, according to court records.
His arraignment, set for Oct. 2 in Osage County where the alleged abuse occurred, comes after the former church leader pleaded not guilty to five charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child in March.
KERA News reached out to Morris’ attorney and will update this story with any response.
In June of 2024, Cindy Clemishire publicly accused Morris, 63, of sexually abusing her in the 1980s beginning at the age of 12. Clemishire said the abuse lasted more than four years.
Morris resigned from the church shortly after admitting to an “inappropriate relationship” with Clemishire.
Clemishire and her father are also suing the megachurch, its elders, Robert Morris, his wife and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association, claiming they knew about the abuse for years but covered it up and defamed Clemishire when she came forward with the allegations. The suit also says Morris characterized the alleged assault as a consensual affair in which Morris was seduced by Clemishire, who was a child at the time.
Filed in June, the suit pointed to Morris' previous statement acknowledging the abuse claims, where he referred to Clemishire as a “young lady.”
Church elders issued Morris' statement to the congregation in June of 2024, calling Morris' alleged abuse a "moral failure," according to Clemishire's original filing.
Gateway Church asked to be dismissed from that suit last week. In a court filing Friday, leaders of the megachurch wrote that while they "sympathize and mourn" with Clemishire and her family over the alleged abuse, Gateway is not legally responsible for Morris' actions.
"While Gateway regrets that the generic nature of the June 14 Internal Statement tends to downplay or obscure the tragic nature of the abuse (as Independent Elder Willbanks made clear in his subsequent remarks to the congregation), the June 14 Internal Statement does not injure [Clemishire's] reputation in the context of the public conversation," court filings read.
Gateway also argued its statement can't defame Clemishire because it did not mention her name.
Gateway alleges the suit is also barred by the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, a legal principle that prevents governments from getting involved in any internal matters within a religious institution.
KERA News reached out to Clemishire's attorney and will update this story with any response.
Additionally, church elders Dane Minor, Kenneth Fambro and Tra Willbanks included their own written statements in Friday's filing. They claimed they had no knowledge Morris' alleged victim was Clemishire or that she was a child at the time of the abuse, and that they only found out after the internal four-month probe into Gateway.
Four former elders and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association also filed motions to be dismissed from the suit last month, denying they covered up the allegations or defamed Clemishire.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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