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The founder of a Texas megachurch who previously resigned following allegations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s has pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child, according to authorities.
Robert Preston Morris, 64, accepted a plea agreement before an Oklahoma judge Thursday, the state attorney general’s office said in a statement.
Authorities revealed the abuse began in 1982, when Morris visited a 12-year-old girl’s family as a traveling evangelist, and it continued over the span of four years.
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“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day.”
Morris previously served as the senior pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, leading one of the country’s largest megachurches until his resignation last summer. Gateway Church was founded by Morris in 2000, according to The Associated Press. Earlier this year, he was indicted by a grand jury.
Under Morris’ plea agreement, he received a 10-year suspended sentence and will serve the first six months in the Osage County Jail. He has also been ordered to register as a sex offender and pay his incarceration costs, including restitution to the victim.
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“Today justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars,” victim Cindy Clemishire, now an adult, said in a statement.
A member of Morris’ legal team, Bill Mateja, insisted Morris intended to accept responsibility for his actions and bring closure to both his family and the family of the victim while asking for forgiveness, according to The Associated Press.
“While he believes that he long since accepted responsibility in the eyes of God and that Gateway Church was a manifestation of that acceptance, he readily accepted responsibility in the eyes of the law,” Mateja said.
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Last year, Morris reportedly told The Christian Post that, while in his early 20s, he was “involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying,” adding that it was “kissing and petting, not intercourse, but it was wrong.”
Morris previously served on President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board, according to The Associated Press. In 2020, the church reportedly hosted Trump for a discussion on race relations and the economy at its Dallas campus.
Gateway Church did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“Today is a new beginning for me, my family and friends who have been by my side through this horrendous journey,” Clemishire said. “I leave this courtroom today not as a victim, but a survivor.”
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