Texas megachurch founder charged with sex crimes

What happened

An Oklahoma grand jury Wednesday indicted Robert Morris, the founder of a prominent Dallas-area megachurch and former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child. Morris, 63, resigned as Gateway Church's senior pastor last summer after Oklahoma resident Cindy Clemishire said he had sexually abused her for years, starting in 1982, when she was 12. He confessed to "inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady."

Who said what

"After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child," Clemishire said in a statement. "Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable." Oklahoma's attorney general's office said the statute of limitations was "not applicable in this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time."

Morris was "known to be politically active," The Associated Press said, serving on Trump's faith advisory council in his first term and hosting the president at Gateway's Dallas campus in 2020. Morris "steadily involved himself in state and national politics after founding Gateway in 2000" and growing it into one of the nation's largest churches, The Texas Tribune said. Gov. Greg Abbott tapped Morris in 2017 to "help support the so-called 'Bathroom Bill' that sought to ban transgender people from using their preferred bathroom — in part by arguing that it would allow children to be sexually abused."

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What next?

Morris will be charged in Osage County District Court, and he is "expected to turn himself in there next week," The Oklahoman said. Each of the five counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.