Former Gateway Church pastor Robert Preston Morris appeared briefly in an Osage County courtroom Tuesday, where a judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for September in his child sex abuse case.

Morris, 63, faces five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from allegations that date back to the early 1980s. The court appearance lasted about a minute, and Morris declined to comment as he left the courthouse.

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Cindy Clemishire, who has accused Morris of abusing her beginning in 1982 when she was 12, attended the hearing and expressed gratitude for law enforcement.

Morris, who founded the prominent Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, turned himself in to authorities in Osage County in March and was later released on $50,000 bond.

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According to a multi-county grand jury indictment, Morris was a traveling evangelist visiting Hominy, Oklahoma, when the alleged abuse began around Christmas 1982. The indictment states the abuse continued for four years.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond previously condemned the case, calling it “despicable” and emphasizing that Morris allegedly used his pastoral position to exploit a child.

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Morris resigned from his role at Gateway Church in 2024.

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Robert Morris charged by grand jury with sexually abusing a child in the 1980s

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