A prominent faith and politically-active leader was indicted in Oklahoma on five counts of child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s. Pastor Robert Morris, who was tapped by Texas governor Greg Abbott in 2017 to support his cause around “bathroom bills” and by President Donald Trump in 2020 to participate on administration-level conversations, is being accused by a woman who says she was repeatedly assaulted four decades ago. Democrats immediately jumped on this connection.
Because the accusations stretch back so far, indeed to the 1980s when Morris worked as a traveling pastor and the victim was between the ages of 12 and 16, even for a crime as heinous as this one Texas law imposed a statute of limitations. As it relates to crimes committed against minors, the criminal statute of limitations is 20 years from the victim’s 18th birthday in the event the victim is under the age of 17. What this would mean for Morris is that he couldn’t have charges brought up against him.
However, Texas State Representative David Lowe introduced the Cindy Clemishire ACT in order “to remove the civil statute of limitations for child sex predators.” Lowe shared the news on social media, writing on the platform X that he had introduced a bill to ensure Morris could be brought to justice. He went on to say that the victim “was groomed and exploited by Pastor Robert Morris when she was 12 through 16 years old.”
“Robert Morris, the Dallas-area megachurch pastor who resigned last year amid sexual abuse allegations, has been indicted in Oklahoma for child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s…The indictment comes less than a year after Morris resigned from Gateway Church in Southlake after an adult woman, Cindy Clemishire, said Morris repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she was a child in Oklahoma in the 1980s. Morris was at the time working as a traveling preacher,” the Texas Tribune reported.
The Tribune quoted the alleged victim advocating for the justice system to bring the alleged perpetrator to justice after so many years of evading consequences. “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail,” she said.
Many headlines surrounding this developing story are highlighting the political affiliations and connections Morris had, particularly the one with President Donald Trump. In 2016, he was a member of campaign’s evangelical advisory board. As noted, in 2020 he continued to participate in events with the administration, such as the ‘Roundtable on Transition to Greatness.’ That event was held at the megachurch Gateway in Dallas, which Morris helped found on 2000.
“I want to thank Pastors Robert Morris and Steve Dulin. They’re great people. Great people with a great reputation. I have to say that. Great reputation,” Trump commented, before turning his attention to Morris so that the latter could open the roundtable with a prayer.” Despite what corporate media pundits and social media activists are trying to connect, which is connect dots from Morris to Trump, no credible one has been made.
Featured image: Jared Stump, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons