Gateway Church founder Robert Morris was released from prison early Tuesday morning after he pled guilty to charges that he sexually abused a girl in the 1980s, according to Osage County Sheriff’s Office records. In October 2025, Morris pled guilty to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Authorities say in 1982, Morris sexually abused 12-year-old Cindy Clemishire while visiting her family’s Oklahoma home as a traveling preacher. Officials say the abuse continued for the next four years. In 2000, Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake, which became one of the largest megachurches in North Texas. He was the lead pastor until he resigned when abuse allegations were made public. Clemishire publicly accused Morris of abusing her in a blog post online in June 2024. Morris soon resigned as the head of the church, with Gateway’s board of elders saying in a statement at the time, “The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child.” In the following months, the church parted ways with multiple pastors, including Morris’s son James. Morris pled guilty to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. In a statement, his attorneys say Morris “pled guilty because he wanted to accept responsibility for his conduct… Pastor Robert made it a point to ask that I tell Ms. Clemishire and her family that he sincerely apologizes.” He was given a 10-year suspended sentence and will spend six months in jail. He also paid $270 thousand in damages and court costs to Clemishire. He is required to register as a lifetime sex offender and will face nine and a half years of probation. ...read more read less