Willbanks shared that six individuals, including Morris, declined to meet with the investigative firm. During the investigation, Willbanks said that Haynes & Boone, LLP “collected 780 gigabytes of data, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and emails, and interviewed more than two dozen individuals.”
RELATED: Gateway Church Members File Financial Fraud Lawsuit Against Robert Morris, 3 Other Pastors
“We are relieved to share with you that in the course of their investigation, Haynes & Boone did not learn of any other allegations of sexual assault by Robert Morris,” he added. “No other abuse by him has been reported or uncovered by Haynes & Boone. And at this time, to our knowledge, there are no other victims of Robert Morris beyond Cindy Clemishire.”
Pleading with Gateway Church attendees to report abuse, Willbanks said, “We want to create a culture where individuals feel safe reporting abuse and any other serious issues.”
Willbanks shared that although statements have been released claiming that no one who was currently serving as Gateway Church leadership was aware of Morris’ abuse relating to Clemishire, the investigation revealed that there “were elders and employees at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024, that Cindy was 12 years old at the time the abuse began.”
Additionally, Willbanks said that he learned “there were other individuals who were notified in the years prior to June 14, 2024, about allegations of abuse, but they failed to inquire further.”
RELATED: Gateway Church Learned of Robert Morris’ Crime in 2005, Says Abuse Survivor Cindy Clemishire
“In other words,” Willbanks added, “there is one group of individuals that knew without a doubt that Cindy Clemishire was 12 when the abuse began.”
“And there is a second group, who knew of allegations of sexual abuse by Robert Morris, who had enough information that they should have led them to ask more questions, but they did not,” Willbanks said. “Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated at this church.”
“As of today, no individual in either group serves as an elder, is employed by or works at Gateway Church,” Willbanks said. “They have been removed.”
Robert Morris Is Demanding Money From Gateway Church
Wiillbanks, while not being able to share specifics due to current lawsuits, shared that “Gateway Church is currently the target of various pending and or threatened litigation matters, including financial demands that we have received from Robert Morris, which to be clear,” he said, “we are rejecting.”
Gateway Church Is Fully Cooperating With a Criminal Investigation
Willbanks also informed Gateway Church that the church is “currently and fully cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation.”
