Texas megachurch founder Robert Morris pleads guilty to child sex abuse charges
The founder of a Texas Megachurch who resigned last year The woman in Oklahoma was accused In the 1980s, the authorities claimed that the priest of sexual harassment was guilty of five censuses and immoral actions with a child on Thursday.
According to the State Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, 64 -year -old Robert Preston Morris was pleased with a judge in Osaga district of Oklahoma as a part of a defense agreement.
The alleged abuse began in 1982 when the victim was 12 years old, and Morris was an Evangelicist who was traveling in Hominy, Oklahoma with his family, according to his family’s Chief Prosecutor Gentner Drummond. It was claimed that abuse continued for four years.
Until he resigned, Morris, the senior priest of the Gateway Church in Texas, Southlake, was accused of an Oklahoma Grand Jury last year. In accordance with the claim agreement, Morris received a penalty for 10 years with the first six months to be served in Osage County prison.
Currently 55 -year -old Kurban Cindy Clemishire said in a statement, “Justice is finally served, and as a 12 -year -old innocent girl, manipulating me, well -groomed and abused the man will eventually be behind the railings,” he said. Associated Press does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come to the public, as Clemishire does.
“My hope is that many victims can hear my story and allow them to remove their shame and talk,” he said. “I hope the laws continue to change and new ones are written, so that the rights of children and victims are better protected.
A message looking for comments in Gateway Church’s administrative offices in Texas, Southlake was not returned immediately.
Morris should also be registered as a sex criminal and will be inspected by Texas officials through Interstate Compact. Morris was also ordered to pay the expenses of imprisonment, including any medical expense and reimbursement of the victim.
A message for Mack Martin, one of Morris’s lawyers of Oklahoma City, was not returned immediately.
Gateway Church was founded in 2000 by Morris. politically active and previously served in the Evangelical Advisory Board of President Donald Trump. In 2020, the church hosted Trump on the Dallas campus. Discussion on race relations And the economy.
Pleas was entered before the Osege District Region Special Judge Cindy Pickerill.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually hunting children,” Drummond said. “This case was even more inferior because the perpetrator was a priest who benefited from the position of trust and authority. The sacrifice in this case waited many years for this day.”
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Associated Press journalist John Hanna contributed to this report in Kansas, Topeka.
