Televangelist Robert Morris, who was as soon as touted as “wise counsel” to President Donald Trump throughout his 2016 marketing campaign, has been indicted on 5 prison counts involving a baby.
In keeping with a assertion from the Oklahoma Legal professional Common’s Workplace, the abuse started on December 25, 1982, when Morris visited the house of the sufferer, who was simply 12 years previous on the time. Morris, who was 20, was working as a touring preacher and stayed with the sufferer’s household.
“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail,” his sufferer, Cindy Clemishire, mentioned via an legal professional.
Clemishire, who’s now 55, first disclosed the abuse in June 2024, which led Morris, founding father of Gateway Church in Texas, to resign as pastor. However earlier than leaving the church, Morris admitted to partaking in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady.”
“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years. In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of,” he mentioned.
However Clemishire shared a unique story.
She alleges that Morris did certainly try to have intercourse together with her when she was 16 and that Morris as soon as informed her to “never tell anyone” concerning the abuse.
And it will get worse. At one level, Morris’ attorneys went so far as to counsel that Clemishire was in charge for her personal abuse.
“It was your client who initiated inappropriate behavior, by coming into my client’s bedroom and getting in bed with him, which my client should not have allowed to happen,” lawyer J. Shelby Sharpe wrote, referring to 12-year-old Clemishire.
And like his buddy Trump, who has additionally been charged with rape and accused of making an attempt to silence girls, Morris tried to maintain his sufferer quiet. In keeping with a transcript obtained final 12 months by NBC Information, Morris requested Clemishire what it could take to maintain her silent.
“Put a price on it,” Morris mentioned.
Earlier than the allegations towards Morris got here to gentle, he was a fixture within the Republican Get together.
In 2016, Trump appointed Morris to his Evangelical Government Advisory Board. And in 2017, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott touted Morris and different preachers for supporting the state’s so-called “bathroom bill,” which sought to ban transgender individuals from utilizing loos according to their gender identities.
In keeping with The New York Occasions, Morris hosted Trump at his Texas-based church in June 2020 for a dialogue on race relations and the financial system. And some months later, Morris attended Supreme Courtroom Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Rose Backyard ceremony, which was later labeled a COVID-19 superspreader occasion.
Nonetheless, as soon as the allegations got here to gentle, Trump and different Republicans started distancing themselves from the disgraced ex-pastor. A spokesperson for Trump informed The Occasions that Morris performed no function in his 2024 marketing campaign.
Nonetheless, it’s placing to see who Trump has stored in his orbit. Whereas he’s lauded people like Morris, Trump has virtually launched smear campaigns towards spiritual leaders who’ve preached for mercy and kindness.
And even when Trump has taken a step again from Morris, that doesn’t erase his status for surrounding himself with and defending a few of the worst individuals conceivable.
Morris may withstand 20 years in jail for every of the 5 prices if he’s discovered responsible. And based on The Related Press, Morris was not in custody as of Wednesday.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Oklahoma Legal professional Common Gentner Drummond mentioned in his assertion. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position.”
