A woman who says that he sexually attacked and abused her when she was 12 years old is bringing a lawsuit against a former pastor of a megachurch in the state of Georgia.
Libel, malice, defamation, slander, failure to report, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unjust enrichment are some of the allegations that are made in the lawsuit that was submitted this week to the Dallas County District court.
The lawsuit was brought by Gateway Church founder Robert Morris and others. They have filed a claim for damages in excess of one million dollars.
After disclosing the claims to The Wartburg Watch, a Christian watchdog site, Cindy Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, filed the lawsuit less than a year after discussing the allegations with the blog.
Carolyn, who is now 53 years old, asserted that she first met Morris in 1981, while he was preaching at her church in Oklahoma, and that their families grew close to one another.
According to her, Morris improperly touched her while he was staying at her residence in 1982, and this behavior persisted for the subsequent four and a half years afterwards.
Morris was indicted by a grand jury in Oklahoma in March on five charges of engaging in lewd or indecent acts with a child for each of the counts.
At the moment, he is release on bond.
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According to a source, Cindy asserts in the recently filed lawsuit that Morris’ wife, sons, and members of the church attempted to cover up the abuse for the purpose of avoiding financial consequences.
“[The] defendants acted in concert, cooperated with each other and conspired to maximize their profits through their unlawful and unjust course of action to fraudulently conceal and cover up the rape of Plaintiff,” as per the court documents.
Morris resigned from his position at Gateway Church in June 2024, and he later launched a lawsuit against the church, claiming that his “highly inappropriate” relationship with a minor did not constitute a breach of contract, and that Gateway Church ought to fulfill its contractual financial commitments to him.
According to the study, church authorities stated that he would have been eligible for a severance payment, enhanced retirement benefits, and deferred compensation benefits totaling millions of dollars each.
