Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris sent a chilling email to his sexual abuse accuser 20 years before making a shocking confession, according to a report.
Morris, 62, founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake — one of the nation’s largest megachurches — faced allegations from a former family friend, Cindy Clemishire, now 54, who said he sexually assaulted her in the 1980s when she was 12 years old.
On Tuesday, Morris resigned from the megachurch after admitting to abuse by Clemishire, who went public with his allegations in a blog post on The Wartburg Watch, a website dedicated to exposing abuse in churches.
Newly released emails shared with NBC News allegedly reveal the shocking interactions between the disgraced pastor and Clemishire in 2005.
“Twenty-three years after you began destroying my life, I am still dealing with the pain and damage you caused,” Clemishire, then 35, allegedly wrote to Morris. “I want some sort of restitution. Pray about it and call me.
Newly surfaced emails between former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris, 62, and his sexual abuse accuser, Cindy Clemishire, now 54, revealed their exchange years after the sexual abuse suspected on children.
“Twenty-three years after you began destroying my life, I am still dealing with the pain and damage you caused,” Clemishire, then 35, wrote to Morris.
Two weeks later, Morris, Donald Trump’s former spiritual advisor, reportedly told Clemishire that he and his wife, Debbie Morris, cared about her.
“Debbie and I really care about you and we sincerely want God’s best for you,” he told Clemishire.
He then allegedly told her that he had already confessed his sins to Clemishire’s father and felt like he had won his and his family’s forgiveness.
“My lawyer advises me that if I pay you money under the threat of a denunciation, you could be criminally prosecuted and Debbie and I do not want that,” Morris allegedly replied.
“If you need more information, ask your lawyer to contact mine. »
The two families – including Morris’ wife and son – became close, and Clemishire alleged that Morris’ abuse began while he was staying at his family home in Tulsa during Christmas 1982.
She describes a scene in which Morris asked her to come to his room and talk to him, asking her to lie down on his bed.
Morris began touching her inappropriately, with Clemishire alleging he touched her stomach, then her chest, then under her pants.
“I remember vividly everything I wore and the feel of the pajamas. They were light pink, and it was a little top with bloomers, and I wore underwear and bloomers, and a little top and a dress that went up over the top,” she said .
Clemishire added that after the alleged abuse, Morris “told me I could never tell anyone about it because it would ruin everything.”
On Tuesday, Morris resigned from the megachurch (pictured) after admitting to abusing Clemishire, who went public with his allegations.
The two families – including Morris’ wife and son – became close, and Clemishire alleged that Morris’ abuse began while he was staying at his family home in Tulsa during Christmas 1982.
She said he would continue to isolate and abuse her for the next four and a half years before finally telling a family friend and then her parents.
Clemishire’s father called for Morris to be removed from his ministerial duties and she claimed he did so for two years in order to undergo “restoration”. He returned to preaching in 1989.
In another email to Morris, Clemishire reportedly said: “Men with 100+ counts of child molestation go to jail. »
“Men who lead churches facing over 100 counts of child molestation are going to prison and paying punitive damages. You didn’t have to do that either.
According to the alleged emails, Tom Lane, a former Gateway alum, knew that Clemishire had contacted Morris for compensation. It is unclear whether he knew she was accusing the former pastor of child sexual abuse.
On Friday, Lane, who has since left the church, told NBC News that he “did not fully understand the severity and specificity of the sexual abuse she suffered, nor did I know that she had 12 years old when the abuse started.”
Richard Harmer, a spokesman for Lane, said he believed Clemishire was under 18, but was still old enough to consent to sex.
In the state of Oklahoma, where the abuse allegedly took place, the age of consent is 16.
In April 2005, Lane contacted Clemishire on Morris’ behalf, but she wanted to speak directly to the former pastor.
Lane told him that Morris was “completely open with the elders of Gateway Church about his past and particularly his indiscretion towards you.”
He added that although Morris and his wife had treated her with “caring concern,” they had “not brought the healing you seek.”
“The ‘blessed life’ that Robert speaks of in his book and that you refer to in your email is not a life of perfection but a life of submission and obedience to God, something in which he has made diligent efforts to walk, both in failure and in failure, for over twenty years,” Lane wrote to Clemishire.
Morris, Donald Trump’s former spiritual adviser, told Clemishire that he and his wife, Debbie Morris (pictured), cared about her in emails.
According to the emails, Clemishire repeatedly tried to speak to Morris on the phone about the allegations, but they never did.
“Robert and Debbie did what they could to help you heal. Our church believes in healing, forgiveness and restoration of all individuals. We would love to help you find that healing for your life.
Just five months after Lane wrote to Clemishire, she allegedly sent a message directly to Morris.
“I’m giving you one last chance to call me. You really have no idea how devastating it will be if you don’t. I don’t want Tom or anyone else to contact me. It’s your problem, not his,” she said.
Morris then asked Clemishire what she expected from him, but she insisted he contact her on the phone to discuss further.
“I have suffered most of my life from the emotional damage you inflicted on me. If you want to know what I want, call me, she replied.
Although he never called her, Clemishire said Morris’ attorney contacted her to schedule a meeting with Morris, but that never happened either.
In a final message, Morris said: “You see the blessings that God has poured out on my life and conclude that it is because I hid my past.
“God doesn’t work that way. He will not be ridiculed by deception.
“I am deeply saddened by the pain endured by Cindy Clemishire and by the recent revelations regarding Pastor Robert Morris,” Lane said in a recent statement.
“My deepest condolences go out to Cindy and I pray that her suffering is fully recognized and validated.”
The Gateway Church board of elders sent a statement confirming it had accepted Morris’ resignation Tuesday. Morris has not made a public statement.
The Church had previously supported Morris, saying he had been “open and frank about a moral failure he had more than 35 years ago”, but in its statement it now calls this behavior a ‘unacceptable after discovering the age of the victim.
Gateway seniors admitted they were aware of Morris’ relationship with a “young lady” when he was in his 20s.
This week, the elder board announced it had hired a law firm to investigate. Morris was never criminally charged and the statute of limitations in such a case has long expired.
“Elders previously understood that Morris’ extramarital affair, which he had spoken about repeatedly throughout his ministry, involved ‘a young woman’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the leaders said. the church in a press release. .
This week, the elder board announced it had hired a law firm to investigate. DailyMail.com has contacted Gateway Church and Morris for comment.
Clemishire has hired Boz Tchividjian to represent her in a potential new lawsuit, according to WFAA. Tchividjian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham.
“It seems like it was better for them to just accept his vague account rather than pursue the truth about a sexual offense perpetrated against a minor,” Tchividjian said.
“Gateway leaders had a responsibility to find out what happened and not blindly accept his words.”
Morris was never criminally charged and the statute of limitations in such a case has long expired.
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