After convicted felon and Gateway Church founder Robert Morris was released from an Oklahoma jail shortly after 12 a.m. Tuesday, he put out a 729-word statement asking forgiveness from victim Cindy Clemishire.
Clemishire, now a grandmother living in Oklahoma, said she’d forgiven Morris years ago but forgiveness “does not erase the truth of what happened or the lifelong impact it has had on me.”
Morris had just served a six-month sentence after pleading guilty to five felony counts of lewd indecent acts involving Clemishire, then a 12-year-old girl back in the 1980s, as reported by The Roys Report (TRR).
As he left the jail, Morris was instructed to start making monthly payments of $40 beginning April 30 to pay an outstanding balance of $8,427.50 in incarceration fees.
As part of his plea agreement, Morris, 64, agreed to pay the victim $270,000.
“What I did to Cindy decades ago was wrong,” Morris’ statement said. “There is no other word for it, and there is no excuse for it. I am deeply sorry. I have carried the weight of that wrong for a very long time, and I am grateful — genuinely grateful — that the Clemishires had the courage to bring this into the light. It is only in the light that things can truly be addressed and healed.
“Many years ago, I sought their forgiveness privately, and as Cindy’s father recently noted, he extended that grace to me — a grace I did not deserve and have never taken for granted. I ask again, publicly and sincerely, for the forgiveness of Cindy and her entire family. Whatever healing lies ahead for them, I pray for it with all my heart.
The allegations against Morris were first reported publicly by The Wartburg Watch in June 2024, prompting Morris to resign from Gateway. He had previously described the abuse as a “moral failure” involving a “young lady” but avoided specifics.
Clemishire disputed the “young lady” moniker, saying she “was a 12-year-old girl who was sexually abused on Christmas Day 1982.”
In an interview with TRR, Clemishire said she wore “pink pajamas with bloomer pants over my underwear” at the time.
In reflection over Morris’ statement, “His words today are, in many ways, what any victim would hope to hear,” Clemishire said later on Tuesday. “But it is still deeply disheartening that those words were not spoken directly to me and my family on October 2nd, when he stood before the court and pleaded guilty. That moment mattered.”
In the six months Morris sat in a jail cell in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, he declined all media interviews. But he did meet with Pastor Landon Schott of Fort Worth’s Mercy Culture church, who declared God had forgiven Morris.
“While I hope his statement reflects genuine remorse, I cannot know whether those words came from his heart or were carefully prepared for him,” Clemishire said. “What I do know is this: what happened to me on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old, was not a relationship—it was a crime. And it changed the course of my life forever.
“For decades, a false narrative was allowed to exist—one that minimized the truth and helped build a platform and following, while my life was left in pieces. That reality cannot be overlooked.
“My healing journey is ongoing and will be for the rest of my life. But today is not just about me—it is about truth being acknowledged, and about accountability finally taking place.
“I am deeply grateful to those who stood beside me in that pursuit of justice, including Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, District Attorney Gayland Gieger, and lead investigator Kylie Turner. Their commitment ensured that what was hidden for so long was finally brought into the light.
“My hope moving forward is that this case helps create space for other survivors to be heard, believed, and protected—and that the truth is never again rewritten at the expense of a victim’s life.”
During Morris’ time in jail, Clemishire crusaded and spoke at conferences, advocating against nondisclosure agreements in settlements involving child sexual abuse.
In her home state, the Oklahoma House of Representatives voted 88-0 to approve The Clemishire Act, which awaits approval by the Oklahoma Senate. It is part of a national movement to end NDAs in sexual abuse cases, as previously reported by TRR.
The measure makes any settlement agreement void and unenforceable if it conceals details of child sexual abuse or exploitation claims. Identifying information for victims would remain confidential under the bill.
The law would apply retroactively to settlement agreements, regardless of when they were signed. The legislation also removes any statute of limitations on prosecuting sex crimes against children.
Morris’ statement also apologized to fellow Christians.
“I also want to speak to the Body of Christ. I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain, the confusion, and the damage that has come upon so many believers because of my actions. That is a weight I carry, and it is right that I carry it.
“I have thought a great deal about what it means that this was brought to a legal resolution. At first, that was a hard thing to handle. But the more time I spent in that jail cell, the more clearly I could see that what the Clemishire family set in motion was an act of integrity, and that it gave me something I needed — a moment of true reckoning in the eyes of the law, not just in my own heart or before God. It opened my eyes to things I had not fully seen.”
Morris founded Gateway in the west Dallas suburbs in 2000 and watched it morph into a megachurch attracting more than 25,000 attendees.
A one-time bestselling author and spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, Morris’ reputation took a hit while civil lawsuits have piled up against him and Gateway Church.
Numerous former elders at Gateway, as well as several prominent Christian leaders say they knew about Morris’ abuse of Clemishire for decades.
They include XO Marriage founder Jimmy Evans and Colorado Springs pastor Brady Boyd. The latter was forced out of his pulpit because his elders didn’t believe his claims of ignorance about Morris’ abuse.
Morris said he had no future plans to speak of.
“As I look ahead, I do not have a grand announcement to make about what comes next,” the statement read. “What I have is gratitude — for (his wife) Debbie, for my family, for those who loved me when I was hardest to love, and for the mercy that I do not deserve but have been given. I intend to live quietly and with integrity, and to be the kind of husband, father, grandfather, and man who reflects that mercy in how he treats others.”
Report by Sheila Stogsdill
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