A day after urging sex abuse victims of current or former leaders of the embattled Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, to report their abuse to elders, longtime elder at the megachurch, Tra Willbanks, revised his advice on Sunday, urging them instead to “go to the police first.”
The revision of Willbanks’ comments, which was first highlighted on X by survivor advocate Amy Smith, came during the longtime elder’s presentation of an overview of a four-month internal investigation led by the law firm Haynes & Boone into allegations that the church’s founder, Robert Morris, sexually assaulted Cindy Clemishire for more than four years beginning when she was 12 in the 1980s.
After presenting his overview of the report, which led to the removal of multiple elders who knew that Clemishire had made claims that she was sexually abused as a minor by Morris prior to her story being made public on June 14, Willbanks urged members during the church’s Saturday afternoon service to report any claims of sexual abuse by current or former leaders to the church.
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“We are relieved to share with you that in the course of their investigation Haynes and Boone did not learn of any other sexual assault allegation by Robert Morris. So no other abuse by him has been reported or uncovered in the investigation. At this time, to our knowledge, there are no other victims beyond Cindy Clemishire,” Willbanks said as he read from a prepared statement.
“However, we do want to be very clear to those of you sitting here today and to those of you that are not with us but who may hear or read our comments. If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual abuse by a current or former leader of this church and you have not felt comfortable sharing your story, we ask that you would do so. You can contact us directly at connect@gatewayelders.com,” Willbanks continued.
The church was later called out on social media for advising survivors to report crimes to elders instead of the police, according to Smith.
“Elder Tra Willbanks instructed church members yesterday to submit their allegations of sexual abuse at Gateway via email to church elders without mention of reporting to law enforcement,” Smith noted on X Sunday, noting the discrepancy between the two statements.
Willbanks’ statement to the church on Sunday advised victims to go to the police first and tell the church only if they think it’s necessary.
“If you or anyone you know is a victim of sexual abuse by a current or former leader of this church and you have not felt comfortable sharing your story we ask that you please do. You can go to the police first and if it’s information that you believe we as leadership of Gateway need to know, you can contact us directly at connect@gatewayelders.com,” Willbanks advised. “Your email will be held in the strictest of confidence. And to anyone out there. If you are a victim of sexual abuse as a child, please know that you cannot have consented. No child can consent to sexual abuse.”
When asked why victims were not initially advised to report their abuse to the police first, a spokesperson for Gateway Church told The Christian Post on Tuesday that “The elders’ message, which is available on Gateway’s YouTube, is all we can provide at this time.”
Morris resigned from Gateway Church on June 18, just days after Clemishire reported that he began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982. She says the abuse continued for four-and-a-half years before it came to light. But Morris was later allowed to return to ministry.
When questioned about the allegations by The Christian Post, Morris initially confessed to being involved in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” more than 35 years ago and said he repented and was restored to ministry.
Elders at Gateway Church, who commissioned the independent investigation into Clemishire’s allegations, initially defended Morris and stated that the pastor, who was a married, traveling evangelist at the time of the alleged abuse, had already repented and was biblically restored to ministry.
Gateway elders later revised their public statement on the allegations in their announcement of Morris’ resignation, saying they were not aware Morris had sexually abused a child.
The results of the Haynes & Boone investigation, which was completed a few weeks ago, were initially presented to a subcommittee of elders who have denounced sexual abuse in “all of its forms,” according to Willbanks.
“What happened to Cindy was heartbreaking and vile, and we denounce any sexual abuse in all of its forms,” he said. “We feel deep sorrow for those who have been victimized by such despicable actions, but I do want to take a minute, and I just want to appreciate Cindy for her bravery and for telling her story for helping bring some awareness to this issue. She has positively impacted countless lives.”
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