{"id":2271433,"date":"2024-06-19T11:52:01","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T15:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-of-texas-megachurch-resigns-following-sexual-abuse-allegations\/"},"modified":"2024-06-19T11:54:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T15:54:20","slug":"pastor-of-texas-megachurch-resigns-following-sexual-abuse-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pastor-of-texas-megachurch-resigns-following-sexual-abuse-allegations\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas megachurch pastor steps down amid sexual abuse claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpastor-of-texas-megachurch-resigns-following-sexual-abuse-allegations%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2271433&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Robert Morris, a pastor \u2062at a\u200d megachurch in Dallas and former\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-new-video-alec-baldwin-says-hes-seeking-spiritual-guidance\/\" title=\"In New Video, Alec Baldwin Says He\u2019s Seeking Spiritual Guidance\">spiritual advisor<\/a> to President Donald Trump, has resigned\u2064 following allegations of child sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s. The Board \u200bof Elders \u200cat Gateway Church, where Morris served, announced his resignation after a woman claimed he had sexually abused\u2062 her when\u200c she was 12 years old. Initially, the church board was \u200dmisled about \u2064the nature of Morris&#8217;s \u2064extramarital relationships, \u2064believing them to involve \u200da young woman, not a child. An\u2063 independent investigation by the\u200d law firm \u2062Haynes and\u200c Boone has been initiated, prompted by the\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-grassley-fbi-whistleblower-investigation-centers-on-mystery-hunter-biden-evidence\/\" title=\"Sen. Grassley: FBI Whistleblower Investigation Centers on Mystery Hunter Biden Evidence\">allegations made public<\/a> on The Wartburg\u200d Watch, a Christian watchdog site.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Robert Morris, the pastor of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/church\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>megachurch<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dallas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Dallas<\/a> who was a spiritual adviser to former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a>, has resigned after a woman said he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sexual-abuse-allegations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>sexually abused<\/a> her as a child in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Elders at Gateway Church announced Morris\u2019s resignation in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegretfully, prior to Friday, June 14, the elders did not have all the facts of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-gaetz-i-dont-plan-to-resign\/\" title=\"Rep. Gaetz: I don\u2019t plan to resign\">inappropriate relationship<\/a> between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse,\u201d the board said in the statement. \u201cThe elders\u2019 prior understanding was that Morris\u2019s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with \u2018a young lady\u2019 and not the abuse of a 12-year-old child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The board said it has hired the law firm Haynes and Boone to conduct an independent investigation into the abuse allegations against Morris, which were first made public Friday on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/christianity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Christian<\/a> watchdog site <a href=\"https:\/\/thewartburgwatch.com\/2024\/06\/14\/i-was-12-years-old-and-wearing-my-pink-pajamas-when-robert-morris-now-of-gateway-church-began-to-molest-me-the-alleged-abuse-lasted-for-4-1-2-years-churchtoo-arctoo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>The Wartburg Watch<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Cindy Clemishire, 54, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/trump-adviser-pastor-robert-morris-confesses-sexual-behavior-rcna157474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> NBC News that Morris had first abused her when she was 12 and he was 21. He allegedly invited her into his room and touched her inappropriately, abuse that continued for the next four and a half years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was in my early twenties, I was involved in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/happy-anniversary-lincoln-project-founder-rick-wilson-celebrates-7-years-since-390k-tax-lien\/\" title=\"Happy Anniversary! Lincoln Project Founder Rick Wilson Celebrates 7 Years Since 0K Tax Lien\">inappropriate sexual behavior<\/a> with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,\u201d Morris <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/pastor-robert-morris-confesses-to-moral-failure.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> in a statement to the <em>Christian Post <\/em>about the allegations. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of,\u201d he added. \u201cI submitted myself to the Elders of the Shady Grove Church and the young lady\u2019s father. They asked me to step out of the ministry and receive counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clemishire told the outlet that she was \u201cappalled\u201d by his characterization of her as a \u201cyoung lady.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was 12 years old. I was a little girl. A very innocent little girl,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gateway Church was founded by Morris in 2000 and has more than 100,000 people attend each weekend across several locations, <a href=\"https:\/\/gatewaypeople.com\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according to<\/a> the church\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign told NBC News that Morris is not involved with the campaign and that the former president was unaware of the allegations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Morris, a Dallas megachurch pastor and former spiritual adviser to Donald Trump, resigned following allegations of child sexual abuse in the 1980s. Gateway Church&#8217;s Board of Elders confirmed his resignation in a recent statement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3192,"featured_media":2271434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24170788476017.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2271433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24170788476017.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2271434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}