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According to emails, Robert Morris, a former spiritual adviser to President Trump, told sexual abuse accusers that they “may face criminal prosecution” if they paid money to stop them from going public.
Cindy Klemischer alleged that she was sexually abused by the megachurch pastor for years as a child, and sent him an email in 2005 demanding “reparations.”
In the email, NBC NewsMorris responded by warning him that if he paid the money he “could face criminal prosecution.”
Last week, Pastor Morris resigned from his leadership of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, after admitting to engaging in “sexual conduct” with a child. He has not been charged with any crime.
Morris is a leading figure in the evangelical Christian community and served on former President Donald Trump’s spiritual advisory council.
In the emails, sent between April and October 2005, Ms Cremicher, now 54, accuses Morris of “destroying” her life and seeks compensation for “distress and damages”.
“It’s been 23 years since you began destroying my life and I am still suffering the pain and damage you caused,” the email said on Sept. 20, 2005. “I am seeking some kind of reparation. Please pray about it and call me.”
Two weeks later, Morris responded to the email, saying he had asked Klemischer’s father for forgiveness and that he considered the matter resolved, according to NBC.
“Debbie and I care deeply about you and we sincerely wish you God’s blessings,” Morris wrote to his wife.
He explained that he believed he had confessed the abuse to Cremischer’s father and thus “earned not only your forgiveness but also that of your family.”
He then warned her that if she took legal action against him, she could face extortion charges, NBC reported.
“My lawyers have warned me that if I pay you money under threat of exposure, you could be subject to criminal prosecution, which neither Debbie nor I want,” he wrote. “If you would like any further information, please have your lawyer contact my lawyer.”
Independent Morris and Gateway Church leaders were contacted for comment about the email.
In one email, Klemischer expressed frustration that Morris had not taken any responsibility for his actions.
“A man with over 100 child abuse charges goes to prison,” she wrote. “A pastor of a church with over 100 child abuse charges goes to prison and pays punitive damages. You didn’t have to do either.”
Klemischer decided to go public with her story last week after a website that collects allegations of abuse in the church said: Wartburg WatchIn a blog post, she detailed the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Morris, beginning at the age of 12. She said the abuse began in 1982 and continued until she came forward to her parents in 1987.
Morris admitted to having a sexual relationship with a “younger woman” when he was in his 20s but said he later regretted it.
“When I was in my early 20s, I engaged in inappropriate sexual activity with a young woman in a house where I was staying. It was kissing and caressing – not sexual intercourse – but it was wrong,” Morris said.
In 1987, after Ms. Klemisher told her parents about the abuse, he “confessed and repented” to Shady Grove Church, where he was pastor at the time, and to Ms. Klemisher’s father.
“They asked me to resign from the pastorate and seek counseling and a freedom ministry, which I did, and I have remained clean, honest and responsible in this area ever since,” Morris said in a statement, adding that he and his wife met with the victims and their families in 1989.
Last week, the Gateway Church presbytery announced that Morris had resigned from his position at the church.
Church leaders maintained that Morris had been led to believe that he had cheated on his wife, not that he had abused his children.
“It was the elders’ prior understanding that the extramarital affairs that Pastor Morris discussed on numerous occasions throughout his ministry were with ‘younger women’ and did not involve the abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the leaders said in a statement announcing his resignation.
Kremisha’s lawyer, Boz Tchividjian, released a statement: NBC News He questions why the elders did not investigate his client’s claims sooner.
“It seemed to them to just accept his vague story rather than pursue the truth about sexual crimes against minors,” Tchividjian said. “It was the responsibility of Gateway’s leaders to find out what happened and not just blindly accept his word.”
One of the elders, Tom Lane, had corresponded in emails in 2005 about Cremischer’s accusations against Morris.
Lane said. NBC News He said he “did not fully understand the severity and details of the sexual abuse she experienced, nor did he know that she was 12 years old when the abuse began.”
The department reported that nothing in the emails appears to indicate that Lane was aware of Klemischer’s age or the nature of the abuse.
