In a shocking revelation, a phone transcript from 2005 has surfaced, showing Pastor Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church, asking his accuser, Cindy Clemishire, how much it would cost to keep her silent about allegations of sexual abuse. The transcript, provided to NBC News by a former Gateway staff member, details a conversation where Morris repeatedly pressed Clemishire to name a price for her silence.
“Put a price on it,” Morris said during the call on September 22, 2005. Clemishire, who was 35 at the time, responded, “It is not a small number. Money doesn’t make you happy and I can understand that. So that is not what this is about.” Despite her reluctance, Morris continued to push for a figure, leading Clemishire to eventually state, “Two Million Dollars.” The conversation ended shortly after.
Clemishire, now 54, publicly shared her story for the first time on June 14 through The Wartburg Watch, a church watchdog site. She accused Morris of sexually abusing her in the 1980s, starting when she was just 12 years old. In response to her allegations, Morris admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior” and resigned from Gateway Church, a megachurch in Southlake, Texas, which he founded 24 years ago.
The transcript, which NBC News obtained, was discovered by a former member of Gateway’s IT department while transferring files from Morris’ computer to a new laptop. The document, created on October 19, 2007, was stored on a shared server accessible to Gateway’s technology teams. Metadata from the document indicates it has not been modified since its creation.
In a series of emails exchanged between April and October 2005, Clemishire sought restitution from Morris for the trauma she endured. “Twenty-three years after you began destroying my life, I am still dealing with the pain and damage you caused,” she wrote in an email dated September 20, 2005. “I want some type of restitution. Pray about it and call me.”
Two days later, Morris and his wife, Debbie, called Clemishire. During the call, Morris acknowledged his past actions but argued that money would not help her. Clemishire countered, saying, “Who said it was going to help me? It is certainly helping you.” Morris, who had by then published his first book and was on his way to becoming a prominent evangelical figure, insisted that he had tried to do the right thing since the incidents.
Clemishire, now a real estate agent in Oklahoma, recounted how Morris, a family friend, molested her repeatedly between December 1982 and March 1987. During this period, Morris was in his 20s, married, and working as a traveling evangelist and later as a pastor at Shady Grove Church near Dallas. Clemishire’s father confronted Morris and church leaders in 1987, leading Morris to leave the ministry temporarily and seek counseling.
During the 2005 call, Clemishire expressed her frustration that Morris had not faced significant consequences for his actions. “Two years out of the ministry big deal,” she said. “I just have a real problem with the fact that you have gone untouched by this.” Morris responded, “Maybe I wasn’t asked to do enough but I did everything I was asked to do.”
Clemishire also described how watching interviews of child molestation victims helped her understand her own experience with Morris. She asked Morris to imagine if such abuse had happened to his daughter, who was a teenager at the time. Morris admitted he would be horrified, but when Clemishire asked if he believed the perpetrator should pay for the crime, Morris was non-committal.
The conversation ended with Clemishire naming a price of $2 million, although she later clarified that the call was not about money but about confronting Morris and holding him accountable. “I was literally sick to my stomach and wanted to finally hold him accountable,” she said. “The call with Robert Morris had nothing to do with money; it was about my anger and my need to confront him so that he finally knew that I knew what he had done to me.”
Morris and his wife did not respond to requests for comment. Lawrence Swicegood, a Gateway spokesperson, stated that church leaders had not seen the transcript and emphasized that the church takes such matters seriously. “We take all of this extremely seriously and abuse of any sort simply cannot be tolerated,” he said. Gateway Church has engaged outside counsel to conduct an independent and comprehensive inquiry into the matter.
Clemishire has hired Boz Tchividjian, an attorney and grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, to represent her in a potential lawsuit. Tchividjian criticized Gateway Church leaders for not seeking the truth about Morris’ actions. “The leaders at Gateway had the responsibility to find out what happened and not to blindly accept his words,” he said.
Morris was never criminally charged, and the statute of limitations for such a case has expired. However, Clemishire’s decision to come forward has sparked a broader conversation about accountability and justice within religious institutions.
Source: NBC News, The Wartburg Watch, The Roys Report, Daily Mail
