Disgraced Gateway Church founder Robert Preston Morris walked out of an Oklahoma jail early Tuesday, March 31, 2026, after completing a brief six-month stint behind bars. Morris, once a high-profile spiritual adviser to Donald Trump, was released from the Osage County Jail just after midnight, a move authorities attributed to safety concerns surrounding the high-profile inmate.
His release follows a October 2025 guilty plea to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The charges stemmed from the 1980s and involved Cindy Clemishire, who was only 12 years old when the abuse began. Despite the severity of the crimes, Morris’s plea deal allowed him to trade a potential decades-long prison sentence for just 180 days of physical incarceration.
The "freedom" Morris now enjoys is strictly conditional. While he has returned to his multi-million dollar lakefront home in Texas, he remains under heavy legal observation:
- 10-Year Suspended Sentence: He faces immediate imprisonment if he violates any terms of his nine and a half years of remaining probation.
- Lifetime Sex Offender Registration: Morris is now a permanently registered sex offender, a status that will follow him for the rest of his life.
- Financial Restitution: He was ordered to pay $270,000 to his victim as part of the settlement.
- Strict Prohibitions: He is barred from consuming alcohol, possessing firearms, or associating with other convicted felons.
The case has left Gateway Church, once one of the largest congregations in the United States, in a state of ongoing turmoil. Since Morris’s admission of "moral failure" and subsequent resignation in 2024, the church has faced dwindling attendance and multiple civil lawsuits alleging that leadership helped cover up the abuse for decades. While the criminal chapter in Oklahoma has closed, the civil fight for accountability in Texas is just beginning.