Megachurch pastor resigns after admitting to “sexual conduct” with “young lady.” She was 12.

The pastor of a Dallas megachurch resigned Tuesday, two days after admitting to engaging in “inappropriate sexual conduct toward a young lady” 35 years ago. The “young lady” involved was 12 years old and the “conduct,” as she described it, amounted to criminal sexual abuse.

Former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris preached to more than 100,000 active attendees and was once a spiritual adviser to former President Donald Trump. His resignation comes four days after 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire publicly made allegations that Morris began abusing her when she was 12 and he was 21. On Tuesday, she told USA TODAY she was no longer afraid.

“It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong,” Morris, 62, said in a statement to local Dallas news station WFAA-TV on Sunday. “This behavior occurred several times in the years that followed… Since then, I have demonstrated purity and responsibility in this area.”

The church initially supported Morris, but announced his resignation after a wave of criticism.

In a statement to the media, the church’s council of elders said it had previously assumed that Morris had had an “extramarital relationship” with a “young lady,” citing the pastor’s words – it was “not abuse of a 12-year-old child.”

“We are heartbroken and horrified by what has come to light over the past few days and extend our deepest condolences to the victim and her family,” said the statement, which was shared with CBS News and NBC News.

Here’s what we know:

Cindy Clemishire claims Robert Morris sexually abused her when she was 12

The allegations against Morris became public on Friday after Clemishire first shared her story with Wartburg Watch, a blog about sexual abuse within the church.

Clemishire said in the blog post that she and her family met Morris at a youth revival in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was 20 and she was 11. Morris was a traveling evangelist with his wife, Debbie.

Morris preached at Clemishire’s church on Sundays, and sometimes he, Debbie and their son stayed overnight at her family’s home. She found him “safe and friendly,” she said.

Things changed on Christmas 1982, when Morris asked 12-year-old Clemishire to “visit him in his room that night,” and she thought nothing of it, she said in the post. Once they were in his room, he sexually assaulted her and warned her, “Don’t tell anyone about this because it will ruin everything.”

She said the abuse continued in Oklahoma and Texas until 1987.

Eventually Clemishire told a close friend and her parents about the abuse, and Morris “reportedly resigned from the ministry for two years,” she told the blog.

Church’s initial support precedes Morris’ resignation

Although the church released a statement about his resignation, Morris was still listed as senior pastor on the Gateway Church website on Tuesday, which said he has been married to his wife, Debbie, for 44 years and has three children with them.

Morris has a television program that airs in more than 190 countries, and his radio program is broadcast in more than 6,800 cities, according to his biography on the Gateway Church website. Morris’ YouTube page, which has 80,000 subscribers, features videos with titles such as “Freedom Through Forgiveness” and “Did You Know You Are Made Perfect by God’s Grace?”

In an earlier statement to WFAA-TV, the church said Morris had “spoke openly and honestly about a moral failure he committed more than 35 years ago” and that there had been “no subsequent moral failings.”

In his own statement to the outlet on Sunday, Morris said that “this situation has come to light and it has been confessed and repented of.”

“I confronted the elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady’s father,” he said. “They asked me to resign my ministry and seek counseling and freedom ministry, which I did.”

In their latest statement, church elders said: “We regret that we did not have the information we now have.”

“On behalf of the victims, we are grateful that this situation has come to light,” they said. “We know that many are affected, we understand how much you are suffering and we are very sorry. We pray that in time healing can occur for all those affected.”

Morris was also a member of Trump’s spiritual advisory council during the 2016 campaign and during the presidency. Trump’s current campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement to NBC News that the former president was unaware of the allegations and that Morris “has no role in the 2024 campaign.”

“All victims, come forward!”

Before Morris’ resignation on Tuesday, Clemishire told USA TODAY she was “disappointed that they are essentially lying and trivializing the crime.”

USA TODAY does not normally name victims of sexual abuse, but Clemishire said it was important to her.

She said she has shared her story with leadership of “very large and well-known” churches and organizations for decades, but no one has removed Morris from ministry or from the pulpit. Clemishire decided to go public to encourage others who may be victims to tell their stories, she said.

“All victims should come forward… I just don’t think I’m the only person,” she said.

Clemishire said that at 54, she has a “different confidence and understanding” and that as a result she “no longer feels intimidated.”

“The courage is there,” she said. “I just couldn’t keep quiet any longer.”

Clemishire also included her name in the Wartburg Watch blog because she has “no shame.”

“I always just trusted that God’s timing would take it where it needed to go,” she said of Morris. “Why hide?”

Can Robert Morris be criminally charged?

Boz Tchividjian, Clemishire’s attorney, told USA TODAY on Tuesday that Morris cannot be charged criminally or civilly for the abuse because of a “fairly short” statute of limitations in the late 1980s.

Since 2017, the statute of limitations for sex crimes involving children in Oklahoma runs until the accuser’s 45th birthday. Before 2017, the statute of limitations was 12 years after the accuser’s 18th birthday.

“This shows how important it is to reform the statute of limitations, both in criminal and civil cases,” said Tchvidijian. “If someone has suffered trauma as a child, it takes many decades to process that trauma and even be ready to talk about it or do something about it.”

Tchividjian advocates for “lookback windows” that would allow states to reinstate statutes of limitations that have already expired so that “survivors can now file their lawsuits.”

Clemishire and Tchividjian are “currently exploring all options” if legal action is taken against Morris.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris resigns over sexual abuse allegations