OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The founder and former senior pastor of a Texas megachurch has been indicted for child sex abuse charges in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced that Robert Preston Morris, 63, was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

Morris resigned last summer as senior pastor of Gateway Church, the announcement said. The Southlake, Texas-based megachurch is among the largest in the country.

According to the announcement, Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting in Hominy with the family of the alleged victim, who was 12 at the time, in December of 1982.

The indictment alleges that Morris’s sexual misconduct began that Christmas and continued over the next four years.

The victim, Cindy Clemishire, went public with her accusations last year.

Following her accusation, in a phone conversation with FOX4 in Dallas, Clemishire said she’s grateful Morris is no longer a pastor at the church, but said she’s disappointed the Board of Elders let him resign instead of terminating him.

FOX23 looked into the months of controversy at Gateway Church surrounding the accusations against Morris and found a release from June 2024 that said in part:

“...The Board of Elders called a special meeting and accepted the resignation of our senior pastor Robert Morris this past week. Gateway Church is committed to protecting people—first and foremost children and the most vulnerable. Abuse simply cannot be tolerated.”

Then in July, the church released an apology to Clemishire on behalf of the church for the pain she endured, saying in part:

“We want to clarify that we believe the incident was in fact sexual abuse of a child, and any description falling short of that does not reflect our or Gateway Church’s position. We are in no way trying to cover up or minimize the situation, and we want to thank Cindy for coming forward and bringing her experience to light.”

Morris now faces five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child.

“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Drummond said. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for justice to be done.”

Clemishire released a statement about Wednesday’s indictment, saying, “After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child. Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable.”

According to the announcement, the statute of limitations is not applicable in this case because Morris was not a resident or inhabitant of Oklahoma at any time.

FOX23 also found that Morris served as an advisor for President Trump during his first term and led a prayer at a round table discussion President Trump hosted in Dallas in June 2020.