Former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris walked out of the Osage County jail in Oklahoma overnight, after six months behind bars as part of his sentence on child sex abuse charges.

An automated notice sent by court officials showed Morris left the jail in Pawhuska just after midnight. The Osage County Sheriff’s Office said Morris was released in the early morning hours due to safety concerns. 

Morris, who built his church in Southlake into one of the largest congregations in the country, pleaded guilty last October to charges he molested Cindy Clemishire, the now adult woman he admitted to molesting beginning in 1982 when she was just 12 years old.

Clemishire issued the following statement after Morris’s release: “Today marks another chapter in a long journey. While his release is part of the legal process, my focus remains on the truth that was finally brought into the light. I am deeply grateful to Oklahoma AG Gentner Drummond, District Attorney Gayland Gieger, investigator Kylie Turner, and every individual who worked tirelessly to pursue justice. I’m also incredibly thankful for the unwavering support of my family, friends, and community. I will continue to stand for truth, for justice, and for every survivor who is still finding their voice.”

Morris will serve 9.5 years of probation and spend the rest of his life on the sex offender registry.

“Robert Morris’ six month prison sentence for the sexual assault of twelve-year old Cindy Clemishire may be complete, but we are heartened to know that he still has nearly ten years of probation as well as a lifetime ahead of being publicly registered as a sex offender,” Clemishire’s attorney and state House Rep. Jeff Leach said in a statement. “While the criminal justice system continues to hold Robert accountable for his heinous crimes and seeks to protect potential future victims through close monitoring and probation limitations, Cindy will continue to fully pursue justice via the civil justice system. She rightfully seeks full accountability not only for Robert and the crimes he committed against her as a young child, but also for the other individuals who harbored him, covered for him, lied for him and even in some cases attacked Cindy on his behalf.”  

Plea deal reached

The plea deal was reached with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and Clemishire.

“The most important thing for me was that he pled guilty to all five counts, and that he’d served some amount of time,” she told CBS News Texas following the verdict.  “And, while most people think it’s not enough, for me, it ensured that he would spend time behind bars.“

Court records indicate Morris now plans to serve out his probation at his $1.5 million lakefront home in Palo Pinto County.

He’ll be required to report his whereabouts to a probation officer and be barred from consuming alcohol, carrying a gun, or associating with other convicted felons.

How the case began

The allegations against Morris first came to light in 2024, after Clemishire shared her story with the Wartburg Watch, a blog chronicling cases of church abuse. The revelation led to Morris’ resignation from Gateway.

At the time, Morris had radio and television programs with a global reach. He’d also written books and served as an advisor to President Trump.

Morris’ son, who had been chosen to take over leadership of the church the following year, in 2025, also left, as well as elders who were alleged to have known about Morris’ history with Clemishire.

Ongoing legal issues

Morris and the church are still immersed in several legal battles linked to his conviction.

Clemishire and her father have sued both Morris and the church, alleging they tried to cover up her abuse and defame her by suggesting she was to blame. The church has denied those claims.

Morris has also sued Gateway, claiming it promised him and his wife a retirement package paying out between $600,000-800,000 a year as long as either is alive. The church has denied that, as well.

A jailhouse visit Morris received in February from Fort Worth pastor Landon Schott has raised questions about Morris’ future in the church.

Schott, who has criticized what he calls “cancel culture,” proclaimed God had forgiven Morris.

“I loved the religious foul comments I got of, ‘Why are you platforming him?'” Schott joked in a video posted to Instagram in response to criticism of his visit.

Morris family remains involved in ministry

Morris’ family remains involved in various Texas churches and ministries.

James and Bridgette Morris, his son and daughter-in-law, now lead Passage Church in Southlake, just two miles from the Gateway campus.

Ethan Fisher, his son-in-law, leads Newlands Church in Katy, Texas, where Morris’ daughter, Elaine, also serves as a pastor.

The Morrises’ son Josh left Gateway and now heads up a life and leadership coaching company that serves the church community and non-profits.

An attorney for Morris released a statement Tuesday after his release:

I am grateful to have had time to reflect carefully on what I want to say, so I will keep this brief and speak plainly.

First, to the many friends, family members, and people I have never even met who wrote letters, who prayed, and who held me in their thoughts during these months – thank you. I read all those letters, and they meant more to me than I can express.

I want to speak directly to Cindy Clemishire and her family. What I did to Cindy decades ago was wrong. There is no other word for it, and there is no excuse for it. I am deeply sorry. I have carried the weight of that wrong for a very long time, and I am grateful – genuinely grateful – that the Clemishires had the courage to bring this into the light. It is only in the light that things can truly be addressed and healed. Many years ago, I sought their forgiveness privately, and as Cindy’s father recently noted, he extended that grace to me – a grace I did not deserve and have never taken for granted. I ask again, publicly and sincerely, for the forgiveness of Cindy and her entire family. Whatever healing lies ahead for them, I pray for it with all my heart. 

I also want to speak to the Body of Christ. I am sorry. I am sorry for the pain, the confusion, and the damage that has come upon so many believers because of my actions. That is a weight I carry, and it is right that I carry it.

I have thought a great deal about what it means that this was brought to a legal resolution. At first, that was a hard thing to handle. But the more time I spent in that jail cell, the more clearly I could see that what the Clemishire family set in motion was an act of integrity, and that it gave me something I needed – a moment of true reckoning in the eyes of the law, not just in my own heart or before God. It opened my eyes to things I had not fully seen.

I want to say a sincere word of thanks to the Osage County Jail staff. They treated me with professionalism, fairness, and genuine decency, as they did for all inmates. Their work is hard – harder than most people realize – and I came away with a deep respect for what they do every day. I am grateful for the protection and the dignity they extended to me.

Being inside also gave me time to think about the men and women around me who did not have what I have – a spouse like Debbie who has walked beside me faithfully, people who stepped into my life when I was young and in a troubled place and pointed me toward something better, a community that, even in its imperfection, held me accountable and helped shape the path I tried to walk from my late twenties onward. Not everyone in that facility has that. My heart goes out to the men and women who are in there without a single letter, without a single person to call. I pray they find their way.

As I look ahead, I do not have a grand announcement to make about what comes next. What I have is gratitude – for Debbie, for my family, for those who loved me when I was hardest to love, and for the mercy that I do not deserve but have been given. I intend to live quietly and with integrity, and to be the kind of husband, father, grandfather, and man who reflects that mercy in how he treats others.

Scripture has always been my anchor, and it remains so now. The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” That verse has been with me through these months. The harvest from seeds I sowed long ago in sin was real, and it was just. But I believe equally in what follows – that when we turn, and when we sow differently, a different harvest is possible. That is not wishful thinking. That is the promise of grace. I am counting on it, and I am committed to living up to it.

CBS News Texas has reached out to Gateway Church for a statement about Morris’ release, but the spokesperson declined to comment. 

Giles Hudson

contributed to this report.

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