Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris pleads guilty to child abuse
A Texas priest, who founded one of the largest Megacurch communities in the country, was found guilty of sexual harassment of a 12 -person girl in Oklahoma in the 1980s on Thursday.
During a hearing on Thursday, 64 -year -old Robert Morris appealed to the guilty and accepted the heavy accusations of immoral or immoral actions with a child.
As part of the claim agreement, Gateway Church’s former leader was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, but only six months in prison and he will be able to probably be probable for the rest.
It should also be registered as a sex criminal and pay $ 250,000 (£ 185,000) for the return.
Morris, according to BBC’s US partner CBS News, Oklahoma, Pawhuska in a courthouse, with many of his wife, adult children and spouses attended the hearing.
According to NBC News, he was handcuffed after the hearing on Thursday and was detained.
According to the Oklahoma Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the accusations stemmed from Morris to abuse Cindy Clemishere at the age of 12 in 1982.
According to NBC News, he said on Thursday that his abuse of Morris with tears in court “fluctuated all over his life”.
Morris was working as an Evangelist traveling, and with Cindy’s family, Hominy lived in Oklahoma. During this time, he said Morris had exploited for four years.
According to NBC, Mrs. Clemishere and her family went to court on Thursday for Morris’s defense.
Now 55 -year -old Mrs. Clemishire first accused the priest of sexual harassment in 2024 and passed to announce that the gate had resigned.
He made a statement stating that it was a “young lady” and “moral failure”. Oklahoma Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office soon began to investigate.
Speaking in court on Thursday, Clemishire said, “There is no such thing as a consent of a 12 -year -old child.”
He said, “We’ve never been in an inappropriate relationship.” “I wasn’t a ‘young lady’, but a child.”
First of all, he said that he told his parents and leaders about abuse in the church about abuse, but no one was looking for the police.
Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000. According to the church, there were 100,000 active participants at the peak.
In 2016, President Donald Trump called Morris as a spiritual advisor and a member of the Enbangelical Advisory Committee.
