Former Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris Indicted on Child Sex Charges in Oklahoma

Robert Morris, the disgraced former pastor of Gateway Church, has been indicted on child sex charges in Oklahoma, according to a statement from the Oklahoma attorney general on Wednesday.

The statement notes that a “Multi-County Grand Jury” today indicted Morris on five counts of “lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from incidents that date back to the 1980s.”

Last year, Morris admitted to having a sexual relationship with an underage girl whose family he stayed with on occasion when he was a young pastor in his 20s. His public admission came after his accuser, Cindy Clemishire went public with her story to the religious watchdog website The Wartburg Watch. In the story, Clemishire said that Morris exploited his position as a pastor to gain her family’s trust before beginning to abuse her in 1982 when she was 12 years old.

Morris, who, before his June 2024 resignation, had risen to global prominence in evangelical circles as a television and radio personality who had authored best-selling books as senior pastor of Gateway, one of the largest churches in America. Since 2016, Morris has been a vocal proponent of President Donald Trump and was appointed to Trump’s “evangelical advisory board” along with other notable area pastors, Robert Jeffress and Jack Graham.

“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” said Oklahoma Attorney Gen. Gentner Drummond in the statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”

On Wednesday, Clemishire told The Dallas Morning News that “[a]fter almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child.”

"We are aware of the actions being taken by the legal authorities in Oklahoma and are grateful for the work of the justice system in holding abusers accountable for their actions," read a statement from Gateway Church. "We continue to pray for Cindy Clemishire and her family, for the members and staff of Gateway Church, and for all of those impacted by this terrible situation."

The scandal has taken a drastic toll on his former church. In November, the Observer reported that attendance and revenue had decreased dramatically while the church had seen the exit of numerous elders and others in leadership positions.

According to the attorney general’s statement, “the statute of limitations is not applicable in this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time.”