Robert Morris’ Lawyer Reveals All Gateway Church Elders Knew He Was A Child Molester

Staff Writer

A letter sent by disgraced pastor Robert Morris’s lawyer to an outside law firm tasked with investigating Gateway Church has revealed that all the elders at the church between 2000 to 2023 knew Morris molested and sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, and did nothing about it.

The letter, sent by William B. Mateja of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP to Ron Breaux and Taryn McDonald of Haynes & Boone reads in part:

“It also bears noting that the evidence we provided over the course of our cooperation with the Haynes & Boone investigation effectively establishes that Gateway Church and the Board of Elders well knew not only that Pastor Robert had a relationship with an underage minor in his past, but also that Ms. Clemishire was in her early teens at the time.

Below is a brief recap summarizing just some of our documented findings:

• a. From Gateway’s opening in 2000 until at least 2023, prospective Gateway elders were informed of Robert’s moral failure that occurred in his early 20s—namely, his sexual encounters with an underage girl and the restoration process he went through thereafter at Shady Grove church. After being told, prospective elders had to affirm that they still wanted to be an elder for Gateway despite knowing this information.

• b. Since Gateway first opened, Pastor Robert was confronted about his encounters with Ms. Clemishire multiple times including at least in 2005, 2007, and 2011- 2012. In each instance, Pastor Robert informed and conferred with members of the Board of Elders regarding his history with Ms. Clemishire, the present allegations, and/or demands, and how he and/or Gateway should respond.

They continue:

This is confirmed by documentation, to wit:

1. Minutes from some such meetings reference Ms. Clemishire by name.

2. In multiple of these instances, Gateway elders responded on Pastor Robert’s behalf-including in direct communications with Ms. Clemishire and others.

3. The elders reviewed proposed public statements drafted by Pastor Robert which detailed Ms. Clemishire’s age and minority status during their encounter.

4. Elders even confirmed Ms. Clemishire’s age in 2011 when the issue resurfaced.
   c. Pastor Robert agreed to be (and was) recorded during a conversation in early 2024, wherein he once again recounted the details of his encounters with Ms. Clemishire—including her age at the time to multiple Gateway employees, including at least one elder.
   d. After the Wartburg Watch published an article about Pastor Robert and Ms. Clemishire on June 14, 2024 (the “Blog Post”), Gateway’s Board of Elders participated in email exchanges and in-person discussions wherein they demonstrated (and even admitted) that the facts detailed within the Blog Post were not new to any of the elders.

Notably, this would mean that James Morris, Robert’s son and the heir apparent to Gateway Church who stepped down to recently announce he was starting his own church, would have almost certainly known about his father’s sins, but did and said nothing about them.