Disgraced Gateway Church Founder Robert Morris Injured in Fall at Home

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Disgraced founder of the Texas-based Gateway Church, Robert Morris, recently popped up on the Texas Sex Offender Registry's website with a startling new look. 

In the photo, Morris has a black eye, which he supposedly suffered due to a fall at home. In addition to the darkened, bruised eye, Morris also sustained a busted lip and three broken bones in his face. 

Morris’ attorney, Bill Mateja, told The Christian Post in a statement on Wednesday that Morris had been sent to the emergency room due to the fall but has since been recovering. His photo with the black eye

“Last week, Pastor Robert was in his garage and leaned over to pick something up. When he raised up, he passed out and fell. He first hit a car door and then fell to the concrete floor. His wife, Debbie, was with him at the time,”

“An ambulance took Pastor Robert to the emergency room. Although Pastor Robert broke three bones in his face, it was determined that he was otherwise okay. Medical staff believe this might have been caused by the act of raising up coupled with him having recently taken his blood pressure medication on an empty stomach,” he added.

Morris resigned as pastor of Gateway Church after old Cindy Clemishire, 55, alleged that he abused her for four and a half years in the 1980s. The abuse started when she was just 12 years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Morris was a traveling evangelist.

He was indicted in March 2025 on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child by a multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma, and then was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty last October, along with a 10-year suspended sentence. 

He was released from custody in March. Also, according to Fox 4, Morris will remain on probation for another 10 years, until 2036. Additionally, the disgraced megachurch is legally required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Prior to Morris’ recent fall, Clemishire filed a defamation lawsuit against him, Gateway Church and other defendants. Despite filing a suit against those parties, the Fifth Court of Appeals did not rule in Clemshire's favor. Instead, the court dismissed the lawsuit. In explaining its decision, the court stated that proceeding with the case would violate the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which bars civil courts from involvement in doctrinal matters or church governance.

While the court did not rule in her favor, Clemshire, Morris' victim, has not been deterred. This does not appear to be the end of the case. 

In a statement to the Christian Post, Clemishire’s attorneys plan to petition the Texas Supreme Court to review the ruling.

“If leaders of a school, business, summer camp, or youth sports organization can be held accountable for allegedly protecting a sexual predator and defaming his victim, should church leaders be immune from the same civil laws simply because the conduct occurred within a religious institution?” Clemishire’s team asked.

Photo Credit: ©TexasSexOffenderRegistry

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.