by Alexandra Sharfman
Thu, March 13th 2025 at 12:11 PM
FILE – Pastor Robert Morris applauds during a roundtable discussion at Gateway Church Dallas Campus, Thursday, June 11, 2020, in Dallas. A statement issued on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, said that Morris has resigned after a woman said he had abused her on multiple occasions in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
OSAGE COUNTY, OKLA. (KTUL) — The founder of a megachurch based in Texas has been indicted in Oklahoma for five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child.
Robert Preston Morris, 63, founder of Gateway Church, was indicted on Wednesday.
According to court documents, the alleged acts happened in Osage County between December 1982 and January 1985 with a child who was 12 years old.
Morris was 21 years old at the time.
According to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting the family in Hominy.
The indictment claims Morris’ sexual misconduct started on Christmas of 1982 and continued for years.
“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” said Attorney General Gentner Drummond. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”
Morris resigned last summer as the senior pastor of Gateway Church.
Drummond said the statute of limitations does not apply to this case because Morris was never a resident of Oklahoma.
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