Trump’s Former Spiritual Advisor Pleads Guilty To Child Sex Abuse
Trump’s Former Spiritual Advisor Pleads Guilty To Child Sex Abuse, X Searches Hard For MAGA Outrage - Page 2
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Robert Preston Morris, Trump’s ex spiritual advisor and the founder of a Texas megachurch, has pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child.
According to the Associated Press, Morris, 64 was forced to resign from his Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, where he was a senior pastor after a woman in Oklahoma accused the pastor of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.
“The abuse began in 1982 when the victim was 12 and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the statement by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. The abuse continued over the next four years,” AP reports.
Morris resigned from one of the largest megachurches in the nation last year, and was indicted earlier this year by an Oklahoma grand jury.
After his plea was accepted, Morris was handcuffed and taken from the courtroom by two sheriff’s deputies.
Morris’ victim, Cindy Clemishire, who is now 55, said in a statement that “justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars.”
“My hope is that many victims hear my story, and it can help lift their shame and allow them to speak up,” she said. “I hope that laws continue to change and new ones are written so children and victims’ rights are better protected. I hope that people understand the only way to stop child sexual abuse is to speak up when it happens or is suspected.”
Morris’ plea was a part of a plea agreement in which the former pastor would receive a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail.
Morris will have to register as a sex offender and was ordered to pay the state’s cost of his incarceration, which includes any medical expenses and restitution to the victim.
“While he believes that he long since accepted responsibility in the eyes of God and that Gateway Church was a manifestation of that acceptance, he readily accepted responsibility in the eyes of the law,” one of Morris’ attorneys, Bill Mateja said.
Morris was Trump’s spiritual advisor and in 2020, during a “Roundtable on Transition to Greatness” event in Texas, Trump called Morris along with another pastor, “great people.”
“Great people with a great reputation. I have to say that. Great reputation. And Gateway Church — the team has been incredible in hosting us,” Trump said, according to archived White House remarks.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Drummond said. “This case is all the more despicable because the perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day.”
Trump’s Former Spiritual Advisor Pleads Guilty To Child Sex Abuse, X Searches Hard For MAGA Outrage - Page 2 was originally published on cassiuslife.com
