Robert Morris, Gateway Church founder, released minutes after being booked in Oklahoma, records show
Former Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church, was released on bond just minutes after being booked into an Oklahoma jail Monday on child sexual abuse charges, jail records show.
Morris, 63, was booked into the Osage County Sheriff's Office at 7:57 a.m. on Monday. By 8:11 a.m., just 14 minutes later, he had posted a $50,000 bond and was released, according to jail records.
As a condition of his release, he was ordered to surrender his passport.
Morris, the former founding pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, a Dallas suburb, turned himself in after being charged last week with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.
His first court appearance is scheduled for May 9 at 10 a.m., the AG's office said.
Mack Martin, Morris' attorney, declined to comment on the charges but said he expects to enter a not guilty plea on Morris' behalf.
Morris resigned from Gateway Church in 2024 after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.
Cindy Clemishire and her accusations against Robert Morris
According to the attorney general's office, the alleged abuse began in 1982 when the victim, identified in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old. At the time, Morris was a traveling evangelist staying with her family in Hominy, Oklahoma. The abuse allegedly continued for four years.
Cindy Clemishire, Morris' accuser, said in a statement that she is grateful to authorities for pursuing the case and is hopeful that "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."
CBS News Texas typically does not name individuals who report being sexually assaulted, but Clemishire said she wanted her name included.
Morris has been politically active in the past, with his church hosting President Donald Trump in 2020 for a discussion on race relations and the economy.
If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five charges, according to the attorney general's office.
