DALLAS — A woman who alleges she was sexually abused by Gateway Church founder Robert Morris beginning at age 12 has filed a defamation lawsuit against Morris, his wife and church leadership, claiming they knowingly spread false statements to cover up decades-old abuse and protect the church’s public image.
The civil suit, filed in Dallas County by Cindy Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, accuses Morris and Gateway Church of making defamatory public statements that mischaracterized the abuse as a consensual “relationship” with a “young lady,” rather than the sexual assault of a child. The suit seeks over $1 million in damages and a jury trial.
According to the complaint, Morris began sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire in 1982 when she was 12 and he was 22. The abuse allegedly continued until 1987. When confronted, Morris stepped down from ministry temporarily before founding Gateway Church in 2000, which has since grown into a national megachurch with over 100,000 members…