SOUTHLAKE, Texas — Lawyers for megachurch pastor Robert Morris blamed a 12-year-old girl who accused him of sexual assault of initiating the inappropriate conduct, letters obtained by WFAA show.
In 2007, lawyers representing Cindy Clemishire wrote to Morris' attorneys demanding a settlement offer for sexual assault she said began when she was 12 on Christmas Day 1982 and continuing through 1987.
In response, Morris' attorney blamed Clemishire.
"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 February 2007 letter said.
The letter from Clemishire's attorney in 2007 said the pastor led the girl "to believe they were having a special relationship" that had to remain secret or "it would ruin everything."
Morris resigned as head of Gateway Church in Southlake after Clemishire's allegations resurfaced last month. He confessed to "inappropriate sexual behavior," to which he had alluded from the pulpit multiple times.
Gateway Church elders said they did not know Clemishire's age at the time of the encounters. The church, which boasts a membership of tens of thousands of people across its multiple North Texas campuses, has hired a law firm to investigate.
"What has happened is extremely disturbing," church elder Tra Willbanks told the Gateway congregation at a service last month. "I'm experiencing a wide range of emotions like you."
Willbanks apologized from the pulpit to Cindy Clemishire, the woman who came forward with accusations Morris abused her starting when she was 12.
"Here at Gateway Church, our tagline is 'We’re all about people.' And you can’t be all about people if you aren’t committed to protecting people," he said.
This week there have been additional revelations about legal issues in the church's past. Earlier this year, the church settled a lawsuit alleging five church staff members concealed the sexual assault of a child by a Gateway church member. The church did not admit fault in the settlement.
WFAA has reached out to Gateway to get its response to the new details, but did not immediately hear back.