Large Church Pastor and Ex-Trump Adviser Pleads Guilty to Child Sexual Abuse
The founder of one of the largest large congregations in the US, the pastor, has pleaded guilty to molesting a young girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s.
The pastor, 64, entered a guilty plea on that day in the local court on five criminal counts of inappropriate acts with a child. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but as part of a plea deal will serve only six months in local jail.
He will be listed as a registered offender and be required to pay $250,000 in restitution.
Background of the Legal Matter
The disgraced pastor established Gateway church in the city of Southlake, the state of Texas. He expanded it into among the ten biggest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand attendees weekly.
The victim, 55, the woman who publicly identified herself as the survivor of Morris’s sexual abuse, was there in court as he admitted his guilt. In a written declaration she stated: “It is impossible to have consent from a 12-year-old child. We were not involved in any improper relationship. I was not a young woman but a child. You performed a criminal act against me.”
Her sibling a family member also read a statement, saying: “You pretended to be holy, speaking from big pulpits. As you concealed your true self, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”
The pastor resigned from the congregation last year after the victim made her story known. She had spent years trying to hold her abuser accountable.
Details of the Abuse
The abuse began in 1982 when Morris, at age twenty-one, was a travelling evangelist. He stayed with the family in their home, where he asked the child into his bedroom.
The abuse persisted for the next four-year period.
A revealed recording of a conversation revealed that in 2005, Morris attempted to pay off the victim into silence, telling her to “put a price on it”.
Fall from Grace and Associations
Morris’s conviction marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his height, he authored several bestselling books and his teachings were broadcast globally.
He also became a religious counselor to Donald Trump. He joined the presidential advisory group during the first Trump presidency and was part of a campaign to mobilize evangelical voters for him in the recent election.
The former president also attended the church in 2020 where he commended the pastor and his senior team as “great people with a great reputation”.
