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Robert Preston Morris, 63, is expected to surrender to officials
in Osage County, where he was charged last week with five counts
of lewd or indecent acts with a child, his attorney, Mack
Martin, told The Associated Press.
Martin declined to comment on the charges against Morris, but
said he anticipated entering a not guilty plea on Morris'
behalf.
Court records show an Osage County judge set a $50,000 bond and
ordered Morris to surrender his passport to the local sheriff.
Morris resigned last year as pastor of Gateway Church in the
Dallas suburb of Southlake after a woman accused him of sexually
abusing her in the 1980s.
The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to
in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a
traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her
family, according to the attorney general’s office. The abuse
allegedly continued for four years.
Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, said in a statement that she
is very grateful to the authorities who have worked to make the
indictment possible and is hopeful “justice will ultimately
prevail.”
“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with
Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as
a child,” said Clemishire, now 55. “Now, it is time for the
legal system to hold him accountable.”
The AP typically does not name people who say they have been
sexually assaulted, but Clemishire said she would like her name
included.
Morris was known to be politically active. The church hosted
President Donald Trump on its Dallas campus in 2020 for a
discussion on race relations and the economy.
Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five
charges, according to the attorney general’s office.
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