SOUTHLAKE (TX)
Kera News [Dallas, TX]
October 3, 2024
By Penelope Rivera
Cindy Clemishire – the woman who accused former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was 12 – turned down a nondisclosure agreement that would have kept the alleged abuse secret, she told lawmakers at a Texas House committee hearing Wednesday.
During the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence meeting, Clemishire said Morris’ lawyers offered her $25,000 in 2007 if she agreed to sign the NDA and take blame for the alleged abuse.
Clemishire declined, she said, because she wanted to tell her story.
“I’m sitting here today because I did not accept that offer and refused to sign an NDA saying I couldn’t speak about my life,” Clemishire said.
Clemishire made the accusations against Morris in June on the Wartburg Watch and the Christian Post, alleging the abuse started Christmas night 1982 and continued through 1987.
Morris later admitted to “sexual inappropriate behavior” and resigned June 18 as head of the megachurch.
But Clemishire said it wasn’t her first time trying to go public with her experience. She said she first confided in a friend who was also close with the Morris family when she was 17. In turn, Clemishire was told to tell her parents, but not much changed after that, she said.
“Back in the 80s, this was not something that was discussed,” Clemishire said. “To think of going to share with any legal services, that wasn’t discussed.”
Morris had a “small step down” from ministry and didn’t face any other consequences, she said.
The pastor could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Morris’ departure was among the first dominos to fall in a slew of church scandals across North Texas. As of Thursday, at least 12 pastors have been arrested for sexual assault or accused of “immoral behavior.”
Most recently, youth pastor Marvin Scales from Waxahachie pleaded guilty to four felonies last month, including two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and one count of sexual assault of a child.
Police launched the investigation after a DNA test confirmed Scales was the biological father of a 14-year-old’s child. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison and is not eligible for parole.
It took Clemishire 20 years to understand what she experienced was a form of abuse, she said. Her attorney in 2007 demanded a $50,000 settlement offer. In response, Morris’ attorney blamed Clemishire for the abuse that occurred, according to a letter obtained by WFAA.
“It was [Clemishire] who initiated inappropriate behavior by coming into [Morris’s] bedroom and getting in bed with him, which [Clemishire] should not have allowed to happen,” the February 2007 letter read.
The response traumatized her, she said.
“I was revictimized by being told I was the one to blame,” Clemishire said. “That I was the one at 12 years that pursued a married man with children.”
Morris was never arrested and faces no charges.
Now 54 years old, Clemishire said she spent years and thousands of dollars in counseling.
“I was trying to make sense of my brokenness in my life and rebuild and protect my own children from child sexual abuse,” she said.
Committee chairman and Texas Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said the state is behind in offering full support to victims and wants to find better solutions for survivors of sexual assault.
“I fear that if we don’t act in a real, meaningful, and strong way, we’re going to almost become a sanctuary for criminals who are preying on our children,”Leach said.
Other child sexual abuse survivors and advocates told their stories, where they discussed the use of civil NDA’s and settlements when victims try to come forward.
Elizabeth Phillips, who is certified in crime victim advocacy, is the executive director of the private family foundation Philips Foundation. Philips said she started the foundation in honor of her brother, who took his own life because of the sexual abuse he endured as a kid.
“He was silenced to his grave,” Phillips said. “When I say my brother was silenced to his grave, I mean he was literally scared for his life.”
Phillips said her brother was groomed and abused from ages 7 to 17 years old by serial sex offender Pete Newman from Missouri-based summer camp Kanakuk Kamps.
Phillips said her brother was forced to file his civil case against Kanukuk Kamps by the Texas Civil Statute of Limitations when he was 23, which she said ended with a settlement involving a restrictive NDA.
Phillips said defendants will sometimes claim the victim requested an NDA or a confidentiality clause –which in most cases, according to Phillips, isn’t true. Child victims and their parents may not understand the language in these settlements and its implications.
In some cases, Phillips said, parents will sign an NDA on behalf of their child if the case comes to light while they’re still a minor. If the victim wants to get out of the agreement as an adult, they’ll have to sue their parents.
“We’re silencing child crime victims and they don’t know their rights,” Phillips said.
Child sexual abuse victims who come forward could have more protections after the next legislative session.
“Be assured, this legislature is going meaningful movement, on this and other issues next session,” he told the speakers. “And we hope that you’ll come back and help us pass meaningful legislation.”