Robert Preston Morris Court Appearance
PAWHUSKA, Okla. — Robert Preston Morris, the founder of Dallas-area megachurch Gateway who is charged with child sex abuse, made an initial court appearance at the Osage County Courthouse on Friday. His preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 4.
Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child, according to the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five charges, according to the attorney general’s office.
Morris turned himself in on March 17 and was released on a $50,000 bond, according to Osage County officials. Morris entered a not guilty plea, according to court records.
Last June, Cindy Clemishire publicly alleged that Morris sexually abused her from the ages of 12 to 17 in the 1980s. She shared her story in a June 14 post on Christian blog The Wartburg Watch.
Morris has provided one public statement on Clemishire’s story. He shared a statement with The Christian Post for a June 15 article, admitting to “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady.” He resigned from the church he founded on June 18, 2024.
On Friday morning, Morris walked toward the Osage County Courthouse, accompanied by his wife, Debbie Morris, and his attorney, Mack Martin. Robert Morris was asked whether he could comment.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Morris said.
“He’s not talking,” Martin said.
On Friday, Morris’ appearance in front of Judge Cindy Pickerill lasted about a minute. As Morris and his wife sat in the back of the courtroom, Martin asked the judge to schedule a preliminary hearing, which she set for Sept. 4.
“Is there anything else?” the judge asked.
“No, Your Honor,” Martin said.
Clemishire sat in the courtroom with her parents and older sister, Karen Black. They were joined by Clemishire’s friends, including Tracy Jungels and Robin Turney. Jungels and Turney have known Clemishire for over 30 years. Clemishire declined to comment.
Background Information
Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, was in the courtroom but declined to comment through a spokesperson.
Kimberly Osment, 69, who lives just outside Osage County, also sat in the courtroom. She said she is a survivor of sexual abuse and wanted to attend the court appearance to support Clemishire. “Every battle impacts all the others,” Osment said. “You just hope — first off, for justice, but secondly, for a change in the culture, that this stops.”
Statute of Limitations
When Clemishire first alleged Morris abused her, legal experts said they doubted Morris would face any criminal charges.
That doubt was rooted in statute of limitations laws. Those laws typically determine how long an alleged victim of child sexual abuse can wait before initiating legal action against the person who allegedly abused them.
Attorneys told The News that in the 1980s, Texas law said a case against someone accused of abusing a child must be brought within a few years of the alleged abuse.
Drummond told The News in a March interview that a frontier-era Oklahoma law might allow Morris to be prosecuted anyway.
“When Oklahoma was formulating its constitution and statutory framework, we were ‘no man’s land,’ we were Indian territory,” Drummond said. He said the state put a law on the books to prevent people from neighboring states like Arkansas and Texas from coming to Oklahoma, committing crimes and returning home.
The statute he referenced says: “If when the offense is committed the defendant be out of the state, the prosecution may be commenced within the term herein limited after his coming within the state, and no time during which the defendant is not an inhabitant of or usually resident within the state, is part of the limitation.”
Gateway Church
Morris founded Southlake’s Gateway Church in 2000 and served as its senior pastor until last June.
Gateway Church is a nondenominational church
