Gateway Church founder Robert Preston Morris was released from an Oklahoma jail just after midnight Tuesday after serving six months, Osage County Sheriff’s Capt. Matt Clark said. Morris, 64, had pleaded guilty last year to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under a plea agreement that resulted in a 10-year suspended sentence, with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail.
The criminal case dates to allegations that Morris abused the victim beginning in 1982, when the victim was 12, while he was traveling and staying in Hominy, Oklahoma with her family, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. Morris was indicted last year by an Oklahoma grand jury, according to the reporting.
After his release, Morris is required to register as a sex offender and to be supervised by Texas authorities through interstate compact, as described in the reporting. He was also ordered to pay costs of incarceration, including any medical expenses, and restitution to the victim.
The victim is identified in the reporting as Cindy Clemishire, who said she did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Clemishire previously issued a statement when Morris was sentenced, saying: “justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars.” Her attorney, Jeff Leach, said Clemishire plans to continue pursuing justice through civil court.
Leach, in a statement, said he was “heartened to know that he (Morris) still has nearly ten years of probation as well as a lifetime ahead of being publicly registered as a sex offender.” Leach added that Clemishire “rightfully seeks full accountability” not only for Morris but “also for the other individuals who harbored him, covered for him, lied for him and even in some cases attacked Cindy on his behalf.”
In a statement released Tuesday through Morris’ attorney, Bill Mateja, Morris apologized to Clemishire and her family. Morris said, “What I did to Cindy decades ago was wrong. There is no other word for it, and there is no excuse for it. I am deeply sorry,” adding that he has “carried the weight of that wrong for a very long time.” He also said he was “grateful — genuinely grateful — that the Clemishires had the courage to bring this into the light.”
Morris’ statement also said that years ago he sought their forgiveness privately, and noted that Clemishire’s father extended “that grace” to him. Morris’ attorneys framed the release as the culmination of a criminal case after decades-old allegations, while authorities emphasized the conditions that continue after he left custody.
Gateway Church, founded by Morris in 2000, is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake. Morris led the church until June 2024, when he resigned after allegations emerged involving the victim’s account. The reporting also said Morris had been politically active and formerly served on President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board, and that Trump visited the church’s Dallas campus in 2020 for a discussion on race relations and the economy.