Gateway Church reaches agreement in lawsuit alleging sexual assault of a minor

By Leonardo BlairSenior Reporter Sunday, 07 July 2024

Just two months before Gateway Church founder Robert Morris resigned amid explosive child sexual abuse allegations, the megachurch reached a settlement in a lawsuit accusing at least five Gateway Church pastors and a youth leader of covering up the sexual abuse of a minor by another member.

The original lawsuit was filed in August 2020 in Tarrant County, Texas on behalf of a minor named AD and her mother, whom The Christian Post is not naming in this article. Gateway Church, Denise Edwards and youth leader Logan Edwards were all named as defendants, along with Doug Vaughn and Gateway Church pastors Kelly Jones, Rebecca Wilson, Samantha Golden, Mondo Davis and Sion Alford.

The plaintiffs in this case were both members of Gateway and sought damages in excess of $200,000, but not more than $5,000,000.

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In the April 18 settlement, Gateway Church and its pastors, who were accused of gross negligence and breach of their fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs as members, admitted no liability and said they had only agreed to a settlement for an undisclosed amount to “buy peace.”

“As all parties waived the right to a jury trial, the Court was notified that a settlement, approved and recommended by the parties and the guardian ad litem, had been reached to resolve all issues in dispute, which settlement is subject to the approval of the Court; …”

“The parties have entered into a confidential settlement and full resolution of all of Plaintiff’s claims against Defendants. In addition, it has been disclosed that the settlement and resolution of the claims against Defendants applies only to disputed claims and that Defendants deny any liability to Plaintiff,” the final judgment in the matter states. “Defendants have agreed to enter into the settlement solely to purchase peace without admitting any liability.”

According to the allegations in the case, prior to the sexual assault, the minor and her mother frequently attended church services and participated in various church events. On or about March 14, 2018, the minor was sexually abused by an unnamed member in his private residence.

In his role as youth leader at the Gateway Church, the defendant Logan is said to have become aware of the sexual assault through conversations with the alleged perpetrator and other young people who attended the Gateway Church.

Logan subsequently shared the allegations with other pastors and defendants named in the lawsuit.

“Defendants Samantha, Sion, Kelly, Rebecca and Mondo were all informed of the allegations of sexual assault faced by Plaintiff Doe because they are Gateway’s central management. Although Defendants were informed of the allegations of sexual assault by minor Plaintiff Doe, none of them filed a formal complaint with the necessary child protective services or law enforcement agencies or informed … Plaintiff Doe’s mother of the existence of the alleged assault,” the complaint states.

Gateway pastors and other defendants in the case reportedly had many conversations with the accused member and his parents. When the minor’s mother finally learned what had happened to her daughter, she filed a report with Haltom City Police.

After the victim’s mother did so, Gateway pastors were accused of attempting to discredit the plaintiffs.

“The defendants, who were ordained pastors of Gateway, launched a concerted campaign to cover up, falsify and discredit the assault allegations while the criminal investigation was ongoing. The defendants encouraged other members of Gateway to ostracize (the minor’s mother) … and had her removed from the various offices she had dutifully served,” the lawsuit states.

The minor and her mother stated that they had to endure “great shame, embarrassment and psychological distress” from the defendants because they had abused their influence to manipulate the police investigation.

“Due to weeks of active cover-up by the defendants, important evidence of the alleged criminal attack could be lost and lose value, further hampering law enforcement’s ability to accurately investigate the original attack,” the lawsuit continues.

Just last month, 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire reported that Gateway Church founder Robert Morris began sexually abusing her on December 25, 1982, when she was just 12 years old. Morris was a young married traveling evangelist at the time. Clemishire says the abuse continued for four and a half years before Morris was exposed, but he was later allowed to return to the ministry.

Clemishire claims that Gateway Church officials were informed of her allegations against Morris years ago. However, Lawrence Swicegood reiterated in a statement to The Christian Post that the current board of elders had no knowledge that the megachurch’s founder had been accused of child sexual abuse.

“The Board of Elders called a special meeting and accepted the resignation of Pastor Robert Morris a few weeks ago. The Gateway Church is committed to protecting people – primarily children and the most vulnerable. Abuse simply cannot be tolerated,” he said.

“The Council of Elders has retained the law firm of Haynes and Boone, LLP to conduct a thorough and independent investigation so that the facts can be understood. Even though this abuse occurred many years before Gateway was founded, the Elders are determined to find out the truth and hold people accountable,” he added.

“Unfortunately, the current elders did not have all the facts prior to Friday, June 14. The Council of Elders is deeply committed to acting with integrity and finding out the truth. The best course of action is to have this investigation conducted by an independent and unbiased outside law firm. That review has begun and the Council of Elders pledges its full cooperation.”