Large Church Minister and FormerTrump Adviser Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor

The head of among the biggest large congregations in the US, the pastor, has admitted guilt to sexually abusing a young girl in the state of Oklahoma during the 1980s.

Morris, 64, pleaded guilty on that day in Osage county district court on five criminal counts of inappropriate acts with a minor. He was given a sentence to a decade in custody, but as part of a plea deal will serve only six months in local jail.

He will register as a registered offender and be required to pay a quarter million dollars in compensation.

Background of the Legal Matter

The former minister established the church in Southlake, Texas. He grew it into one of the top 10 largest large churches in the US, with over twenty-five thousand visitors each week.

The victim, fifty-five, the woman who came forward as the survivor of Morris’s sexual abuse, was present in the courtroom as he admitted his guilt. In a prepared statement she told him: “There is no such thing as agreement from a child of twelve. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship’. I was not a ‘young lady’ but a child. You committed a crime against me.”

Her sibling a family member also made a declaration, saying: “You acted as if you were righteous, preaching from large platforms. As you concealed your true self, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”

Morris stepped down from the congregation last year after Clemishire made her story known. She had devoted many years trying to hold her abuser accountable.

Details of the Abuse

The molestation began in the year 1982 when the pastor, at age twenty-one, was a itinerant preacher. He stayed with Clemishire’s family in their residence, where he asked the girl into his room.

The abuse persisted for the following four years.

A leaked transcript of a conversation showed that in 2005, Morris attempted to pay off the victim into silence, telling her to “name your price”.

Downfall and Connections

The guilty verdict marks a remarkable fall for the minister. At his peak, he authored multiple popular books and his teachings were transmitted globally.

He also became a religious counselor to the former president. He was part of the presidential advisory group during the initial Trump administration and was part of a campaign to organize evangelical voters for him in the recent election.

Trump also attended the church in 2020 where he praised the pastor and his senior team as “wonderful individuals with a great reputation”.