(BrightPress.org) – Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church, allegedly tried to silence an accuser with money. According to a transcript from 2005, Morris asked Cindy Clemishire to name a price to keep her from going public about the abuse she endured as a child.
Morris asked her to name a price during a phone call between the two. Clemishire responded that money wouldn’t make her happy and eventually named $2 million. Morris ended the call shortly after.
For years, Clemishire kept silent about the abuse she says began when she was 12 years old. She finally spoke out in June, revealing the years of sexual abuse by Morris. He admitted to inappropriate sexual behavior, leaving out key details, and resigned from Gateway Church, the megachurch he founded in Southlake, Texas.
There were emails between Clemishire and Morris from 2005. Clemishire asked for compensation for her trauma. She expressed ongoing pain and damage caused by Morris, seeking some form of restitution. Morris and his wife called Clemishire, but the conversation ended without a solution.
The transcript of that call surfaced recently, shared by a former Gateway staff member. The document, created in 2007, had been on a shared server accessible to Gateway’s technology teams. Morris and his wife have not commented on the transcript.
Clemishire said in 2005 she was beginning to understand the criminal nature of Morris’ actions. The call wasn’t about money but about confronting Morris. She wanted him to know that she knew what he had done.
The transcript shows Morris telling Clemishire that his wife was on the line. Clemishire referred to her emails threatening to go public unless Morris compensated her. Morris argued that money wouldn’t help her. Clemishire insisted it was helping Morris, who by then had become a prominent evangelical figure.
The accusations have brought down a once-prominent pastor. Morris recently admitted to the abuse and stepped down from Gateway Church. The church’s board of elders is now addressing the situation, taking steps to respond to the fallout.
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