Judge Allows Sex Abuse Survivor's Defamation Suit Against Gateway Church to Proceed

Robert Morris. Photo: dailyjournal.net

SOUTHLAKE, TX — A Dallas County judge has ruled that a defamation lawsuit filed against Gateway Church in Southlake by sexual-abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire may move forward, according to reporting from CBS. 

Clemishire sued the church and several of its elders, alleging they mischaracterized and minimized the abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of Gateway founder and former lead pastor Robert Morris. Notably, Morris served as a "spiritual advisor" of President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign and hosted him at his church in 2020.

Gateway Church had sought dismissal of the defamation suit, arguing the ecclesiastical-abstention doctrine bars civil courts from intervening in church affairs. “The doctrine is all about protecting the First Amendment, that the courts and the government shouldn't get into the affairs of the Church,” said attorney Bill Mateja, who represents Morris.

Judge Emily Tobolowsky rejected that argument in a ruling issued last Tuesday. In a statement, State Rep. Jeff Leach — one of Clemishire’s attorneys — called the decision “a great day for justice… for Cindy… and for countless survivors and victims for whom she is blowing the doors to the Courthouse wide open.”

The trial is scheduled for next summer. Morris is currently serving a six-month jail sentence in Oklahoma after pleading guilty on Oct. 2 to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with Clemishire, who was 12 when the abuse began in 1982. At that time, Morris was a traveling evangelist.

The lawsuit names Gateway Church; Robert and Debbie Morris; multiple current and former elders; Lawrence Swicegood, the former communications director; and The Robert Morris Evangelistic Association. Current church leaders have acknowledged that several former elders were aware of details surrounding the abuse.

Under his plea agreement, Morris received a 10-year suspended sentence, must register as a sex offender, and will be supervised in Texas after release. “There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

Clemishire, now an adult, said the plea brought long-awaited accountability: “Today justice has finally been served… I leave this courtroom today not as a victim, but a survivor.”

Two additional cases involving Morris and Gateway remain pending: a Tarrant County dispute over Morris’ retirement agreement and a federal class-action lawsuit alleging misuse of donor funds.

Previously, UOJ reported that another one of Trump's spiritual advisors, Pastor Mark Burns, said that the refusal of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to identify as “Russian” is a challenge to Ukraine’s security.

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