SOUTHLAKE (TX)
Baptist News Global [Jacksonville FL]
August 21, 2026
By Mallory Challis
The Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 19 to dismiss all but two of sexual abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire’s defamation claims against Gateway Church and its elders.
The lawsuit, which was filed in June 2025, names as defendants Gateway Church, Robert Morris and his wife Deborah Morris, Thomas H. Miller Jr., John D. Willbanks III, Kevin Grove, Jeremy Carrasco, Kenneth W. Fambro II, Gayland Lawshe, Dane Minor, Lawrence Swicegood, Steve Dulin and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association Inc.
Gateway is a multi-campus megachurch based in North Texas.
Clemishire was repeatedly sexually abused by Gateway Church founder Robert Morris in the 1980s beginning when she was 12 years old. In October 2025, Morris pleaded guilty to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.
While he was given a 10-year sentence for these crimes, he served onlu six months under a plea deal. He also was ordered to register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 to Clemishire in restitution.
Legally, the defamation suit is a separate piece of litigation, in which Clemishire alleges defendants blatantly mischaracterized Morris’ abuse and thus made millions of dollars from his “moral failures and rape.”
Aside from the sexual abuse she endured, Clemishire’s wants to hold accountable Morris and other leaders who knew about his abusive actions but tried to spin the story to make her the aggressor.
In a 2007 letter, for instance, attorney J. Shelby Sharpe wrote to Clemishire’s attorney, “It was your client who initiated inappropriate behavior by coming into my client’s bedroom and getting in bed with him, which my client should not have allowed to happen.”
The abuse was discussed not only privately among legal representatives but among church elders as an “extra-marital affair” and even mentioned in a sermon, in which Clemishire was referred to as a “young lady” with whom Morris engaged in “kissing and petting and not intercourse.”
He did not disclose to his congregation that this “young lady” was a 12-year-old child.
Wednesday’s ruling dismissed all defamation complaints against religious organizations and church leaders, except Morris and his wife, citing the ecclesial abstention doctrine.
This doctrine “prohibits a court from resolving a dispute that is inherently religious in nature,” meaning the court may not engage in fact-finding or make decisions in matters of theological controversy, church governance or the moral standards of church members.
This doctrine is an extension of the First Amendment, aiming to protect religious freedom by allowing religious institutions to utilize their prescribed moral frameworks to engage in interchurch disputes “confined to a local church body or a hierarchically structured religious organization.” It intends to allow churches to resolve conflicts in ways appropriate to their religious beliefs, orders and needs without undue interference from the government.
And while Gateway Church and its leadership is “pleased” with the decision, attorneys representing Clemishire say using this doctrine in a suit regarding sexual abuse is an unethical legal maneuver.
Jeff Leach, who represents Clemishire with Gray Reed Law Firm, offered a statement in response to the ruling. Leach also serves as a representative in the Texas House, chairs the House Judiciary Committee and is the author of Trey’s Law, which prohibits the use of non-disclosure agreements in sexual abuse cases.
“The ruling issued late Wednesday by the Texas Court of Appeals has deeply troubling consequences for survivors and victims of childhood sexual abuse,” he said. “If allowed to stand, it effectively grants religious organizations sweeping immunity from civil accountability — even when they are alleged to have knowingly concealed, enabled or protected child sexual predators — simply because those actions occurred within a religious institution.
He added: “The constitutional separation of church and state is a fundamental principle of our country, and religious institutions are entitled to the full protection of the First Amendment. But religious liberty was never intended to become a shield for concealing child sexual abuse or protecting those who perpetrate it.”
Related:
Robert Morris pleads guilty to child sexual abuse
One year after Robert Morris’ confession, things are only worse
‘Trey’s Law’ makes its way through Missouri and Texas legislatures
Robert Morris indicted on child sex abuse charges in Oklahoma