Texas appeals court rules sexual assault survivor's lawsuit involving Gateway Church must be dismissed

A Texas appeals court has ruled that a sexual assault survivor's lawsuit against Gateway Church and its elders must be dismissed.

Cindy Clemishire, who was molested by Gateway's founder, Robert Morris, beginning in 1982 when she was 12 years old, sued the church for defamation, claiming it downplayed and mischaracterized the abuse she suffered.

Morris pled guilty last year to charges of indecent conduct with a child and spent 6 months in an Oklahoma jail before being released in March to serve the remainder of his 10-year sentence on probation. He and his wife are also named as defendants in Clemishire's lawsuit, but do not appear to be affected by this most recent ruling.

In its decision Wednesday, the Fifth District Court of Appeals cited what's known as the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which "prohibits civil courts from delving into matters of theological controversy, church discipline, ecclesiastical government, or the conformity of the members of the church to the standard of morals required of them."

Its ruling overturns a trial court's earlier decision that the doctrine did not apply in this circumstance.

"Nothing about this decision diminishes what happened to (Clemishire)," wrote Gateway attorney Ron Breaux, in a statement about the decision. "But the First Amendment draws an important constitutional boundary: Secular courts cannot sit in judgment over how a church investigates its clergy, governs itself or communicates about the character and conduct of its religious leaders. This decision strongly reaffirms that principle of church autonomy and makes clear that it protects every church, regardless of how it chooses to organize and govern itself."

Clemishire's representatives, meanwhile, have blasted the decision.

"The ruling issued late Wednesday by the Texas Court of Appeals has deeply troubling consequences for survivors and victims of childhood sexual abuse. If allowed to stand, it effectively grants religious organizations sweeping immunity from civil accountability—even when they are alleged to have knowingly concealed, enabled, or protected child sexual predators—simply because those actions occurred within a religious institution," wrote attorney Jeff Leach, who represents Clemishire and serves as an elected representative in the Texas House.

Leach has vowed to continue their fight.

Any potential appeal would now likely go to the Supreme Court of Texas.