'My abuser is finally being held accountable' woman tells Texas lawmakers about Gateway founder

Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Mar 19, 2025

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A woman who says the founding pastor at Gateway Church abused her starting when she was 12 is speaking out against the use of nondisclosure agreements in child sexual assault cases.

Cindy Clemishire gave emotional testimony to a panel of Texas House lawmakers on March 19, just days after ex-Gateway Church lead pastor Robert Morris turned himself into Oklahoma authorities. He was indicted in on March 12 on five counts related to the sexual abuse of a child. He resigned from the Southlake-based church in June 2024 after Clemishire publicly accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.

She and others whose lives have been affected by child sexual assault testified in favor of House Bill 748, authored by Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican. The bill was voted out of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee and sent to the full House for consideration.

The legislation makes confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements unenforceable in civil case settlements dealing with sexual abuse and assault cases — including those involving a child — when the agreements would prevent a victim from speaking out about the abuse. The bill lets those involved in reaching an agreement keep other details or terms, such as the payment amount, confidential. The bill would also extend to human trafficking and cases involving compelling prostitution.

Clemishire told lawmakers the abuse started while Morris was staying in her family’s home in 1982.

“As I began the lifelong journey to sort through these emotional challenges, my life seemed to attract more shame, while Robert attracted more fame,” she told members of the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee. “Through decades of counseling off and on, seminars, books and conversations with friends and family, I have found my way to understanding child sexual abuse, forgiveness and healing.”

Part of that journey included pursuing financial restitution from Morris in 2007 when she was 37, 20 years after she first told someone of the abuse, Clemishire said. During the process, Clemishire said she was offered an NDA as part of a settlement, which she refused.

“Because I refused to sign an NDA, my abuser is finally being held accountable for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” she said. “Because I refused to sign the NDA at the age of 37, I am able to sit here at the age of 55 and share my story and be the voice for so many people who don’t have the courage to come forward, in hopes that I can help them.”

A spokesperson for Gateway and Morris’ attorney Mack Martin did not immediately return emails seeking comment.

The bill is named “Trey’s Law” in honor of Trey Carlock, whose sister Elizabeth Phillips of Dallas also testified at the March 19 hearing. Phillips said her brother endured a decade of grooming and child sexual abuse at Kanakuk, a summer camp in Missouri, by the camp’s former director. Carlock was subject to a restrictive NDA and died by suicide in 2019, she said.

A spokesperson for Kanakuk did not immediately return a request for comment. On its website, Kanakuk said “victims of abuse should be free to share their stories in support of their healing” and that it “will not stand in the way of any who wishes to do so.”

“The law on NDAs must be clarified because we cannot trust institutions to do the right thing,” Phillips said. “It’s no exaggeration for me to claim this as matter of life and death. I think we know what child sexual abuse does to a person’s life, does to a kid. And I think we also know how healing happens. It’s by sharing your story in safe places, find support and solidarity.”

State Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican, filed a bill called the “Cindy Clemishire Act,” one of a several filed this session removing the statute of limitations for child sexual assault lawsuits.