Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris, whoĀ Donald Trump once named as a spiritual adviser to his administration, announced he was stepping down from Gateway Church amid allegations he molested a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

The resignation comes days after Morris, 62, seemingly admitted to molesting the girl in a statement toĀ The Christian Post.Ā In that statement, he conceded that he engaged in ā€œinappropriate sexual behaviorā€ with a ā€œyoung ladyā€ when he was already married with a child in his early 20s.

Morris didnā€™t mention the girlā€™s ageā€”but his alleged victim, Cindy Clemishire, told the religious watchdog blogĀ The Wartburg Watch on Friday that she was only 12 when she was first sexually abused by Morris on Christmas Day in 1982. She claimed that he invited her into the room he was staying in at her family home during a visit, and touched her inappropriately on her breasts and ā€œunder her panties.ā€

      • NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        If you were writing the article you probably wouldnā€™t get to pick your headline. Headline writing is not an art, itā€™s a boring science of putting it in the most regular and concise of terms.

        He resigned amid allegations of abuse. Those are the cold hard facts. If it turns out that the Christian Monitor how misquoted him or coerced him etc then this outlet might also be liable for claiming something not quite 100% defensible in a court of law.

        • Zoboomafoo@slrpnk.net
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          6 months ago

          And I think it just means that if you are rich enough to sue a newspaper, then theyā€™ll never claim you are anything other than an upstanding citizen.