Pastor’s Arrest Reflects Lack of Accountability

For decades now, a tremendous amount of attention, including arrests and lawsuits, has been paid to systemic sexual abuse inside the Catholic church. Even the pope has been accused of having knowledge of abuse and doing nothing to stop it. Look across the headlines of almost every news outlet, from the Associated Press, to the New York Times, CBS News, and USA Today, among others, and it’s not a priest that’s in trouble this time, it’s the 63-year-old founder of a Texas megachurch whose been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child in Oklahoma. The case demonstrates the lack of accountability across all churches, especially those in the US.

According to the grand jury indictment, Robert Morris was a young itinerant ‘evangelist’ (church talk for preacher who can’t get a pastorate), when he was invited to spend Christmas at the home of a family in Hominy, Oklahoma, a small town in the middle of nowhere, Northeast of Tulsa. The initial point of abuse was in 1982 and allegedly continued for four years.

The woman who made the accusation, who is now 55, said she is coming forward now because she feels certain that there are other victims. “Any and all victims, come forward … I just don’t believe that I’m the only person,” she said. Unlike other outlets, we refuse to use the woman’s name despite having her permission to do so. We believe that all victims of sexual abuse, regardless of their age or the time elapsed, deserve their privacy.

The arrest raises an all too common question: How can this happen in such a morally strict environment? The answer is that there is no accountability. Many churches, especially Southern Baptist churches that are dominant in Oklahoma and Texas, are fully independent of the denomination. Despite countless arrests and accusations in recent years, churches are reluctant to take any action that might ‘ruin’ a pastor’s career.

Morris acknowledged in a sermon in 2014 that he was “sexually immoral” when he was a young man and admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior.” Why did the church keep him on as pastor for so long?

Church elders said Morris disclosed to them he’d had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a 12-year-old. The church did not make any investigation nor attempt any form of discipline against Morris at that time. He remained as pastor of the church until June of last year when the current allegations against him were filed.

The victim wrote in a statement “Though I am grateful that he is no longer a pastor at Gateway, I am disappointed that the Board of Elders allowed him to resign. He should have been terminated.” She rebuked church elders for knowing and acknowledging her claims of sexual abuse, but intentionally embracing “the false narrative Robert Morris wanted them to believe.”

In some twisted sort of ecumenical irony, lawyers for the Southern Baptist Convention said Wednesday (March 12), the same day the indictment against Morris was made public, that the U.S. Department of Justice has ended an investigation into the denomination’s response to allegations of sexual abuse committed by Southern Baptist pastors and institutional leaders. That investigation was launched in 2022 after the release of the Guidepost report that demonstrated that SBC executives had mistreated abuse survivors and sought to downplay the effects of abuse in the convention. This is the second time that the convention has claimed the investigation was over.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

The sad fact is that evangelical churches are all too happy to look the other way at sexual abuse within their ranks. This is made evident by their embrace of Felonious Punk, a convicted rapist who was also a close friend of the late Jeffrey Epstein. Robert Morris was on Punk’s spiritual advisory board during the 2016 campaign and the first term of his presidency and even hosted the president at Gateway Church. 

Four members of the Gateway Church Board of Elders, including Robert Morris’ son who was an infant at the time of the alleged abuse, were put on temporary leaves of absence as an outside legal team investigates the accusations against Morris, the church said on June 28. This is not the first time the church has had to deal with sexual abuse allegations. A case settled in April involved accusations that multiple church pastors covered up the alleged sexual abuse of a child by a member of the congregation in March 2018. The child’s mother filed the lawsuit in Tarrant County in 2020, which also claimed pastors encouraged members of the congregation to ostracize her.

The lawsuit also claimed that church leaders conspired when they failed to inform law enforcement that they were aware of the alleged abuse and had spoken with the church member accused. It also alleged the church leaders tried to discredit the allegations.

Sexual abuse has been systemic in almost every mythology-based religion throughout history. Everything from child sacrifice to castration and forced pregnancy has been condoned and practiced by various religious organizations that have come and gone. At no point in history is there any record showing that such abuse did not exist. Religious leaders have continuously sought ways to excuse such actions, often saying that they were ‘ordained by God.’

Churches of every kind, all around the world, have blood on their hands from the rampant sexual abuse occurring within their leadership and congregations. Robert Morris is expected to turn himself in to Osage County District Court next week. He faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted on all five charges.

Just because one person has been caught after more than 40 years is not an excuse to relax. All centers of mythological worship should be investigated thoroughly to ensure that those who choose to attend them are not unwittingly becoming victims of continued abuse.