Gateway Church apologizes to former pastor's accuser

SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Gateway Church directly apologized to a woman who accused former senior pastor Robert Morris of sexually assaulting her when she was a child.

The apology came on Saturday, the first since Morris' son, James Morris, stepped down from his role as pastor at the Southlake church.

Robert Morris resigned last month after Cindy Clemishire accused the pastor of sexually abusing her during a five-year period starting when she was 12 years old.

Clemishire, now 54, says she contacted Gateway Church in 2005 about the allegations.

Morris had previously acknowledged having an inappropriate relationship with a "young lady" decades before, leaving out her age.

Gateway Church elder Tra Willbanks directly addressed Clemishire during Saturday's service.

"Cindy, in case you're watching, we wanted to again apologize to you on behalf of our entire church for the years of pain that you have endured. We are sorry for our initial communication which was clearly incorrect, you were a child. Not a young lady," he said.

Willbanks also addressed a recent statement from the church which described the accusations as an "inappropriate relationship."

"To be clear, we believe that this was sexual abuse of a child. Any description falling short of that does not reflect our position. I'm sorry that we got that communication wrong. We are in no way attempting to cover up or minimize this situation. In fact, I would like to say to you Cindy, 'Thank you for coming forward,'" Willbanks continued.

Gateway hired an outside legal team to investigate the claims and what the church knew about them at the time.

Wilbanks said the investigation is still underway and all parties are cooperating.

The church is expected to share the findings of the investigation with the public once it is completed.

No criminal charges have been filed against Morris.