Texas megachurch pastor receives 6 months in jail for molesting 12yr girl unti she was 16

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People have expressed outrage over the Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris only having to serve six months in jail after he admitted to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

In Osage County District Court on Thursday, Morris, 64, admitted to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

Under a plea agreement, he was handed a 10-year sentence, but will only serve six months behind bars, NBC News reported. He will also pay $250,000 in restitution and register as a sex offender.

Multiple people have posted their anger on social media, slamming the jail time and re-sharing previous photos of him with U.S. President Donald Trump. Morris served on Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board in 2016.

Why Does It Matter

Morris is the founder of Gateway Church, a multi-site megachurch based in Texas, which has one of the largest evangelical congregations in the state. He has since resigned.

Last year, Cindy Clemishire, 55, accused Morris of abusing her at the age of 12. She was present in the courtroom when Morris accepted responsibility.

The guilty plea and sentencing of such a prominent religious figure cast a spotlight on the mechanisms of institutional accountability and the ongoing efforts to address sexual abuse in faith-based communities and beyond.

It also comes as tensions run high over sex abuse cases, many people still reeling from a failed bid to release all Jeffrey Epstein files.
What People Are Saying

Responding to the sentence, the Christian author Jennifer Greenberg, who has written about her own abuse, wrote on X: "Predator pastor, Robert Morris, has plead guilty of sexually abusing a child, but thanks to a plea deal (WHY?!) he’ll only serve 6 months in jail. How long do you think it will take before some stupid church ‘forgives’ him and makes him a pastor again?"

What To Know

The charges stemmed from abuse beginning in 1982—when the victim was 12 and Morris was a traveling evangelist—until she was 16, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.

"There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children," Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a release. "This case is all the more despicable because the perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day."

What Happens Next

Morris will serve six months in Osage County Jail, then remain on probation and under state supervision in Texas for the remainder of his suspended sentence.