Alleged child sex abuse survivor of Gateway founder Robert Morris wants to ban NDAs that 'silence victims'
Cindy Clemishire, the woman who alleges she was sexually abused by Gateway Church founder Robert Morris beginning when she was 12 years old in the 1980s, has asked Texas lawmakers to ban the silencing of victims through non-disclosure agreements and extend the statute of limitations on child sex abuse in the state.
Earlier this month, Clemishire told the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence how Morris' attorneys offered to reimburse the cost of her therapy only if she signed a non-disclosure agreement, which would have prevented her from revealing the abuse.
"Had I signed a non-disclosure agreement back in 2007 and accepted the $25,000, I would not be able to be speaking out now," Clemishire told WFAA.
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Two days after Cindy Clemishire confronted Gateway Church founder Robert Morris in 2005 about how he sexually abused her starting when she was 12, he accused her of attempting to blackmail him, then asked her to name her price after she demanded he pay for what he had done to her as a child. Clemishire ultimately said she wanted Morris to pay $2 million in restitution.
Morris, who never paid off Clemishire, recently resigned from Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, after the now 54-year-old grandmother revealed that he sexually abused her over multiple years in the 1980s.
Clemishire, who said she has been grappling with the psychological impact of the abuse for decades, revealed in selected emails shared with The Christian Post how she first reached out to Morris in 2005 about the abuse.
At a hearing on Oct. 2, Clemishire told Texas lawmakers that banning NDAs in child sex abuse cases will help survivors heal.
"It's part of the healing process to be able to share your story," she said. "It's just protecting predators whenever an NDA is forced upon a victim."
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, which held the hearing, said he plans on pushing this legislation at the next session.
"We absolutely must fight against the misuse of nondisclosure agreements in child sex abuse cases," he said in a statement cited by WFAA. "They only serve to silence victims and shield perpetrators and those who harbor them."
Clemishire said that she wants civil statute of limitations on child sex abuse extended, arguing that if the laws were different she would go after Morris for restitution.
"He built a life and a platform and great wealth using my story and lying about it," she said. "A survivor should be allowed to speak about their life."
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