Megachurch Pastor and Ex-Trump Counselor Admits Guilt to Sexual Abuse of a Minor
The founder of one of the largest megachurches in the US, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s period.
The pastor, sixty-four, entered a guilty plea on that day in the local court on multiple charges of lewd or indecent acts with a minor. He was sentenced to 10 years in custody, but as part of a plea deal will only serve half a year in county jail.
He will be listed as a sex offender and be required to pay a quarter million dollars in restitution.
Background of the Legal Matter
The former minister established the church in the city of Southlake, the state of Texas. He grew it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand attendees weekly.
Cindy Clemishire, 55, the woman who publicly identified herself as the victim of Morris’s sexual abuse, was present in the courtroom as he pleaded guilty. In a prepared statement she told him: “There is no such thing as consent from a 12-year-old child. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a minor. You committed a crime against me.”
Her sibling a family member also read a statement, stating: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve been aware you are nothing but a predator.”
Morris resigned from the congregation last year after Clemishire made her story known. She had spent years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Specifics of the Abuse
The abuse started in the year 1982 when the pastor, then 21, was a travelling evangelist. He was a guest of Clemishire’s family in their home, where he asked the child into his room.
The molestation persisted for the next four-year period.
A revealed recording of a conversation revealed that in 2005, Morris attempted to pay off Clemishire into silence, saying to her to “name your price”.
Fall from Grace and Associations
The guilty verdict signals a dramatic downfall for the pastor. At his height, he authored multiple popular books and his sermons were broadcast globally.
He also became a religious counselor to the former president. He was part of the presidential advisory group during the initial Trump administration and was part of a campaign to mobilize religious voters for him in last year’s presidential campaign.
Trump also visited the church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his leadership as “wonderful individuals with a stellar reputation”.
