Parishioners returned to Gateway Church in Southlake this weekend for the first time since founder Robert Morris resigned last week after he was accused of sexually assaulting a girl in the 1980s.
Morris had not yet launched Gateway Church and was working as a traveling preacher at the time.
According to a post on The Wartburg Watch, a woman who is now 54 said Morris assaulted her for four and a half years starting in 1982.
Morris resigned last Tuesday, with the church posting online, "Gateway Church is committed to protecting people—first and foremost children and the most vulnerable. Abuse simply cannot be tolerated."
Elder Tra Willbanks told the congregation on Sunday that the church had hired a law firm to "conduct a comprehensive and independent inquiry into this entire situation."
"The elders and you must know the facts, and we must enforce accountability," he said. "Abuse in any form cannot be tolerated."
"As an elder, I did not know the truth, and frankly, like so many of you, my wife and I are shocked, devastated, and grieving," Willbanks said. "First, I'd like to express my personal compassion for Cindy Clemishire. I can't imagine carrying a burden like that for so many years, and I want to say to you, Cindy, I'm so sorry."
Protesters gathered outside the church carrying signs including, "They knew," and "Protect kids from pastors."
According to the blog, after Clemishire told her father about the abuse, he demanded Morris leave the ministry. The blog said Morris left for two years, but at one point, his wife called Clemishire and told her she "forgave her."
Clemishire said she spent more than a decade in counseling and hired a lawyer to file a civil lawsuit in 2005.
"Robert Morris’s attorney responded by implying that they believed it was her fault because she was 'flirtatious,'" the blog post says. "She asked for $50,000 (which was not much in my estimation.) They responded that they would give her $25,000 if she signed an NDA. She refused, so she can now tell her side of the story."
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