Robert Morris, a Texas megachurch pastor once appointed by Donald Trump as a spiritual adviser to his administration, has announced he is resigning from his Gateway Church following allegations that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.
The resignation came days after Morris, 62, made a statement in which he allegedly admitted to sexually abusing girls. Christian Post. In his statement, he admitted to engaging in “inappropriate sexual conduct” with a “younger woman” when he was in his early 20s and was already married with children.
Morris did not say how old the girl was, but the alleged victim, Cindy Klemisher, told the religion watchdog blog: Wartburg Watch On Friday, she revealed that she was just 12 years old when Morris first sexually abused her on Christmas Day in 1982. She claims that he was invited into the room where she was staying during a visit to her parents’ home, where he inappropriately touched her breasts and “under her panties.”
Klemischer told the magazine that Morris ordered her to keep quiet about the sexual abuse because it would “ruin everything.”
The abuse allegedly continued for four years after Mr Morris confided in a close friend and his wife found out what had happened, forcing him to briefly step down from his ministry, although details of what happened have not previously been made public.
“It was kissing and petting, no intercourse, but it was wrong,” Morris said of the relationship. Christian post.
Returning to the pulpit, Morris gained a large following as a preacher and apparently caught the eye of President Trump, who appointed him to his Religious Advisory Council in 2016.
Morris’ former church, just outside Fort Worth, attracts more than 100,000 worshippers every weekend, the church claims on its website.
