Tom Lane, ex-Gateway Church executive pastor, says he didn’t know Cindy Clemishire was abused at 12
Tom Lane, a former executive pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, who first responded to allegations from Cindy Clemishire, 54, that she was sexually abused by the megachurch’s founder, Robert Morris, says he wasn't aware that the abuse began when she was 12.
In a statement released in June, shortly after she went public with her allegations against Morris that forced his abrupt resignation, Clemishire pointed to her communication with Lane in 2005 to bolster her claim that Gateway Church officials were aware that Morris had abused her as a child beginning when she was 12, and lasting for four-and-a-half years after that.
"The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris' Gateway email address. Former Gateway elder, Tom Lane, received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old," Clemishire said in the statement released by her attorney Boz Tchividjian.
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"Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse. His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse," she insisted. "At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted to believe."
Richard Harmer, a spokesperson for Lane, told The Christian Post on Monday that the statement is a bit misleading, as at no time was it stated in any communication that Lane had with Clemishire that she was 12 when Morris began sexually abusing her.
“The statement in question suggests that the phrase ‘when I was 12’ was included in the email Tom received from Robert Morris's assistant in 2005. While Tom knew the year and exact date, he had no reference to Cindy’s age in 2005, nor was he aware a crime was committed,” Harmer explained to CP.
“The way this has been written implies that ‘when I was 12 years old’ was in the email, which is not accurate. Although this is how Cindy’s attorney wrote it, we feel strongly about clarifying the statement,” Harmer added.
He said Lane is still being accused of knowing Clemishire’s age at the time the abuse started but she had cut him off before he could learn those details.
“Tom did make an effort to connect with Cindy and perhaps if that happened, her age and the crime would have come up. Unfortunately, Cindy declined to engage further with Tom at that time,” Harmer said. “Tom is deeply distressed and feels terrible Cindy has endured this pain over the last 35 + years. He profoundly regrets not having more information back then.”
Asked by CP to respond to Lane’s clarification of her statement, Clemishire called it “unacceptable.”
“Any excuse and putting the blame back on me is unacceptable as an elder and overseer of the church,” she told CP in a statement. “With the information Tom Lane had, he could have easily researched and found my age at the time the abuse started.”
After Clemishire publicly alleged in June that Morris abused her as a preteen girl, Morris, 62, admitted to CP in an earlier statement that he had engaged in "inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady" while he was a pastor at another church in his early 20s. But he did not name his accuser or disclose her age at the time.
In their initial response to the allegations against Morris, elders at Gateway Church told CP that they believed Morris was fully transparent about his past and that he had been biblically restored to ministry after allegedly stepping away for two years. He reported in his 2011 book, Dream to Destiny, that he returned to ministry just one month after the "Lord orchestrated the circumstances for me to step out of ministry." At the time, Morris admitted he was struggling with pride.
In announcing Morris’ resignation from Gateway Church on June 18, elders admitted they did not “have all the facts” when they first defended him from the allegations.
"Regretfully, prior to Friday, June 14, the elders did not have all the facts of the inappropriate relationship between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse. The elders' prior understanding was that Morris's extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with 'a young lady' and not abuse of a 12-year-old child," the elders explained.
"Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have. We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express our deep sympathy to the victim and her family," the elders added.
In the announcement of Morris' resignation, Gateway Church elders said they have retained the law firm of Haynes & Boone, LLP to "conduct an independent, thorough, and professional review of the report of past abuse to ensure we have a complete understanding of the events from 1982-1987."
Tra Willbanks, a longtime Gateway Church elder and father of seven, including six girls, said in an update to the church over the weekend that the investigation remained underway as they formally announced to the congregation that they had decided to mutually cut ties with Morris’ son, James, and his wife, Bridgette.
He also issued a second public apology to Clemishire for how the church first responded to her claims against Morris.
“Cindy, in case you are watching, we want 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,” Willbanks said.
“Additionally, two weeks ago, Gateway released a statement saying that this was ‘an inappropriate relationship.’ This statement was not correct either. 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.”
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