Pastor Robert Morris demands millions from Gateway Church amid his sex abuse case

Photo: Pastor Robert Morris

A legal battle is brewing between Pastor Robert Morris and Gateway Church.

According to court documents, the 63-year old founder and former pastor of Gateway Church is demanding millions of dollars in payments and retirement benefits after he resigned in 2024 after admitting to "inappropriate sexual behavior" with a 12-year-old girl when he was a young man in the 1980s.

On Sept. 25, 2024, Morris's attorney sent a letter to Gateway church lawyers with various demands, including more than $1 million that had accrued in Morris's retirement account.

An official retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing between Morris and Gateway reveals that the church agreed to pay Morris $170,000 per year for 20 years following his retirement. However, a letter from Morris's attorney claim that church elders had verbally promised Morris a retirement benefit of $800,000 per year until he turns 70, and $600,000 per year for as long as he or his wife are living. 

Nevertheless, the official compensation agreement included a provision that the retirement benefit is not payable if Morris is fired or resigns. Gateway argues that if Morris is convicted of criminal charges, it would have grounds to withhold the money.

In March, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by victim, Cindy Clemishire.

Morris has pleaded not guilty.

Morris made an initial appearance in an Osage County, Oklahoma courtroom last week. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September. 

Morris's attorneys continue to assert that church elders were aware of the allegations as far back as 2005 and knew the victim's age in 2011, but yet still agreed to employ Pastor Morris.

---

Watch Fantasia's amazing testimony. Click below!