Texas megachurch founder pleads guilty to child sex abuse charges
Pawhuska, Oklahoma (AP) – the founder of a Texas Megacurch who resigned last year A woman in Oklahoma Authorities, the paph in the 1980s accused him of sexual harassment, he said.
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.
According to Oklahoma Chief Prosecutor Gentner Drummond, the abuse began in 1982 when the victim was 12 years old, and Morris was a traveling Evangelist with his family in Hominy, Oklahoma. In a statement, the abuse continued for the next four years.
Morris was the senior priest of the Gateway Church at the Dallas-Fort Worth Worth Worth Worth Southlake suburb and led one of the country’s largest Megacurches until his resignation. Earlier this year, he was accused by an Oklahoma Great Jury. 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.
Morris was handcuffed and on Thursday, he wore a lawsuit by two sheriff deputies while he was accompanied by the court.
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.
Morris should be registered as a sex criminal and will be audited by Texas officials through Interstate Compact. In addition, any medical expenses and the victim’s repayment, including the reimbursement, was ordered to pay the expenses of imprisonment.
Bill Mateja, one of Morris’s lawyers, said he wanted to accept the responsibility of Morris’s behavior and wanted to end the legal issue for himself and his family and his family and his family.
Mateja, although he has accepted responsibility in the eyes of God for a long time and believes that the Gateway Church was a manifestation of this acceptance, he easily accepted the responsibility in the eyes of the law, ”he said.
Mateja said that she wanted to apologize to Clemishire and her family for Morris’s behavior and said that she wished forgiveness.
When asked about the allegations last year Christian post, Morris said in a statement that he was at the beginning of his 20s, he was involved in an inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a house I stayed in ”. He said that it was “not sexual intercourse, but kissing and making love, but it is wrong”.
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.
Gateway Church refused to comment on Thursday.
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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