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A texas priest who confessed his crime Many of his supporters have suggested that “God has forgiven” his repeated abuse of a 12-year-old child.
Pastor Robert Morris, 64, who founded one of the largest megachurches in the US, abused a 12-year-old girl over a four-year period in Oklahoma in the 1980s and pleaded guilty last week to five felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child.
Osage County District Court in Oklahoma sentenced Morris to 10 years in prison, but due to a plea agreement he will serve only six months in prison. He will also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 in restitution.
The girl had told her parents and also informed church leaders in 1987, but no one called the police. The charges also include one case of attempted rape.
Morris’s imprisonment marks a spectacular fall from favour. In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump named him his spiritual advisor and a member of his evangelical advisory committee.
Then, in 2020, Morris welcomes Trump at Gateway Church in Dallaswhere trump Morris referred to And Steve Dulin, another Gateway veteran, was called “great guys with great reputations.”
The case made international headlines and sparked a wave of condemnation; However, many of Morris’s supporters believe that God has forgiven him.
a facebook post There was a flood of comments in support of Morris in the wake of news of his admission regarding Morris’ sentencing by the Christian Broadcasting Network’s flagship TV program – The 700 Club.
“God forgives, and I believe he is a forgiven man,” one supporter wrote in response to the news.
Another said, “In the court of man he was found guilty, but in the court of heaven where our Lord Jesus sits as judge, he was forgiven and acquitted.”
One supporter called on people not to be judgmental about him and compared Morris’ child abuse to repentant individuals in the Bible. He wrote, “All great men in the Bible make mistakes.” “God is slow to anger and quick to forgive. Don’t judge him, let God be the judge of all.”
Others suggested that the time between the abuse and the allegations was not taken into account in the legal proceedings.
“For something that happened over 40 years ago. Unbelievable,” one person wrote.
“I love you, Pastor Robert. Praying for you and your family. God is not done with you yet. Your best is yet to come!” Said another.
Morris was the founder of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, which had a weekly attendance of about 25,000 people, but resigned from the church last year when his victim, who publicly identified herself as 55-year-old Cindy Klemishire, made allegations against him.
As well as telling her parents and church about the abuse in 1987, she had previously tried to press charges against Morris in 2005, and again in 2007,
A leaked transcript A 2005 phone call revealed that Morris tried to bribe Clemishire into keeping him quiet, telling him to “put a price on it”.
Speaking in court, Klemshire said, “Let me be clear: there is no such thing as consent from a 12-year-old child.”
“You didn’t just harm me as a child – you stole my innocence, a child’s most sacred possession, and you murdered the future woman, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter and friend I wanted to be.”