Cindy Clemishire is suing Gateway Church founder Robert Morris, accusing him of defamation to cover up alleged sexual abuse beginning when she was 12.
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.
The plaintiffs allege that in 2024 — after public reports surfaced about Morris’s past — Morris, Gateway’s board of elders, and media executive Lawrence Swicegood made “knowingly false” statements to minimize the abuse and mislead the public. They included statements describing the conduct as “kissing and petting” and referring to the minor victim as a “young lady,” despite internal knowledge that Clemishire was a child.
The lawsuit further alleges that church officials falsely told the congregation and media that they only recently learned Clemishire was a minor at the time of the abuse, despite having documentation and internal emails acknowledging her age as early as 2005.
Clemishire and her father claim that the defamatory statements have caused emotional distress, reputational harm, and economic losses. They also accuse the defendants of coordinating a campaign to protect Morris’s image and financial interests, including through public relations messaging and sermons.
Attorneys for Clemishire argue that the church’s leaders, including Morris’s wife Deborah and several elders, “acted with actual malice” and “reckless disregard for the truth” when publishing statements to media outlets and church members.
In June 2024, amid growing scrutiny, Morris resigned from his leadership position. In March 2025, an Oklahoma grand jury indicted Morris on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
The lawsuit names more than a dozen defendants and includes additional claims of libel, slander, civil conspiracy, and unjust enrichment, but places particular focus on the reputational damage the plaintiffs say was inflicted by false and misleading public narratives.
Since she made her allegations public, Clemshire has been a vocal advocate for survivors, testifying at the Texas House against the use of NDAs to silence child sex abuse victims. A bill supporting that effort, known as Trey’s Law, has since passed in the Texas House and Senate, and now sits on Gov. Abbott’s desk awaiting approval.
WFAA reached out to Gateway Church officials, who responded with no comment.