Scandal rocks Texas megachurch: founder accused of abusing young girl

A private investigation has revealed that the founder of a Texas megachurch allegedly sexually abused a 12-year-old girl. Several people knew about it but did not intervene.

Gateway Church in Southlake, near Fort Worth, hired the law firm Haynes & Boone to conduct an investigation into allegations that founder Robert Morris had a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s. The investigation alleges that the relationship actually occurred and that others were aware of it but did not ask any further questions.

Four church elders, Kevin Grove, Thomas Miller, Jeremy Carrasco and Gayland Lawshe, were fired following the conclusion of the investigation.

“We need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that our culture has allowed this truth to be buried for too long,” Tra Willbanks, another Gateway Church elder, said during a service Saturday.

Willbanks also called it a “massive failure in governance and accountability.”

“When a church focuses on one pastor, it loses its way,” Willbanks said. “And unfortunately, over the last few months, we have come to the realization that at some point in the past, the culture at Gateway has become one in which power is centralized and the leader at the top is surrounded by people who want to protect him , some of them at any cost.”

Morris is alleged to have abused the teenager between 1982 and 1987, when he was a traveling evangelist in his early 20s.

Cindy Clemshire accused the priest of repeatedly abusing her during this time.

“There was a group who knew without a doubt that Cindy was 12 years old when the abuse began and there was a second group who knew about the allegations of sexual abuse by Robert Morris, who had enough information to which she should have led.” “They asked more questions and inquired more, but they didn't,” Willbanks said.

Clemshire told CBS News Texas that Morris and his wife were friends with their parents and often stayed at their home.

“He said, 'You can't tell anyone because it would ruin everything,'” Clemshire told the Outler.

Robert Morris resigned as leader of Gateway Church in June. Morris' son, James Morris, and his wife, Bridget, also stepped down from their church leadership positions last summer.

What is Gateway Church?

Gateway Church was founded in 2000 and is now one of the largest congregations in the country with over 25,000 attendees. The main campus covers 64 acres.

The Protestant church had its first service at Easter 2000 at the Hilton Hotel in Grapevine. About 180 people attended the service.

The church settled two sexual abuse and harassment lawsuits this year. In April, Gateway Church settled a 2020 lawsuit filed by a child's family alleging that five pastors concealed sexual abuse it experienced from a youth leader in 2018.

In June, the church settled a 2023 lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was sexually harassed by a pastor and then fired from her position as his administrative assistant.

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