Daystar Television Network, one of the largest Christian television networks in the world, has removed all content from Gateway Church founder Robert Morris after he resigned earlier this week following allegations that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl over multiple years in the 1980s.
“We are deeply grieved and saddened by the recent and very serious allegations against Pastor Robert Morris involving the sexual abuse of a 12-year-old minor,” the network wrote on X. “In light of these events and a recently released statement by Gateway’s Elders, Daystar’s leadership has made the decision to remove all of Pastor Robert Morris’ programming from our broadcasting schedule. Daystar unequivocally condemns the actions described in these allegations and remains committed to upholding biblical values as outlined in the Word of God. As we navigate through this challenging situation, we extend our heartfelt support and prayers to all those impacted.”
The decision comes less than a week after Cindy Clemishire, now 54, publicly accused Morris of sexually abusing her over a span of four years, starting when she was a child. On the Wartburg Watch blog, Clemishire detailed the abuse she endured starting on December 25, 1982, when she was just 12 years old and Morris was 21. She said the abuse continued for four-and-a-half years while Morris lived with her family.
On Friday, Gateway’s elders sent a statement to staff, stating Morris admitted that “in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying.”
“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,” Morris, 62, said in a statement to local Dallas news station WFAA-TV on Sunday. “This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years … Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area.”
Clemishire, however, told The Roys Report that Morris’ version of events was not the full story.
“He says there was no sexual intercourse, but he did touch every part of my body and inserted his fingers into me, which I understand now is considered a form of rape by instrumentation,” she said. “I was an innocent 12-year-old little girl who knew nothing about sexual behavior.”
On Tuesday, Gateway’s Board of Elders announced that Morris was resigning from his position at the 100,000-member church. The board expressed regret over the newly revealed details, claiming they were previously unaware of the victim’s age and the extent of the abuse.
“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not the abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement read. “Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have.”
However, Clemishire shared that in 2005, she had confronted Morris about the abuse via email, with former Gateway elder Tom Lane responding and acknowledging the incidents.
“The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris’ Gateway email address,” Clemishire said in a statement released Tuesday night by her attorney Boz Tchividjian. “Former Gateway elder, Tom Lane, received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old.
“Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse,” she continued. “His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse. At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted to believe.”
