REVEALED: Chilling email Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris sent to sexual abuse accuser 20 years before shock confession

Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris sent a chilling email to his sexual abuse accuser 20 years before he made the shocking confession, according to a report. 

Morris, 62, the founder and senior pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake - one of the largest megachurches in the country - faced the allegations from former family friend Cindy Clemishire, now 54, who said he sexually abused her in the 1980s when she was 12. 

On Tuesday, Morris resigned from the megachurch after admitting to abusing Clemishire, who went public with her allegations in a blog post on The Wartburg Watch, a website dedicated to exposing abuse in churches. 

Newly-released emails, shared with NBC News, purportedly reveal the shocking interactions between the disgraced pastor and Clemishire in 2005. 

'Twenty-three years after you began destroying my life, I am still dealing with the pain and damage you caused,' Clemishire, then 35, reportedly wrote to Morris. 'I want some type of restitution. Pray about it and call me.' 

Two weeks later, Morris, Donald Trump's former spiritual advisor, allegedly told Clemishire that he and his wife, Debbie Morris, cared about her. 

'Debbie and I really do care for you and we sincerely want God’s best for you,' he told Clemishire. 

He then allegedly told her that he previously confessed his sins to Clemishire's father, and was under the impression that he obtained her and her family's forgiveness. 

'My attorney advises that if I pay you any money under a threat of exposure, you could be criminally prosecuted and Debbie and I do not want that,' Morris was quoted as replying. 

'If you need more information, have your attorney contact mine.'  

The two families - including Morris' wife and son - became close, and Clemishire alleged that Morris' abuse began when he stayed at her family home in Tulsa on Christmas 1982. 

She describes a scene in which Morris asked her to come to his room and speak with him, asking her to lay on his bed. 

Morris began to touch her inappropriately, with Clemishire alleging he touched her stomach, then her breast and then under her pants. 

'I remember vividly everything I was wearing and how the pajamas felt. They were light pink, and it was a little top with bloomers, and I had on underwear and bloomers and the little top and a robe that snapped up over the top,' she said. 

Clemishire added that after the alleged abuse occurred, Morris 'told me I could never tell anyone, because it would ruin everything.' 

She said that he would continue to isolate her and abuse her for the next four-and-a- half years before she finally spoke out, first to a family friend and then to her parents.

Clemishire's father demanded Morris be removed from ministry and she claimed he did for two years in order to undergo 'restoration.' He returned to preaching in 1989. 

In another email to Morris, Clemishire allegedly said: 'Men that have over 100 counts of child molestation go to prison.' 

'Men who pastor churches that have over 100 counts of child molestation go to prison and pay punitive damages. You have not had to do either.' 

According to the alleged emails, Tom Lane, a former elder from Gateway, knew that Clemishire had contacted Morris looking for compensation. It is unclear if he knew that she was accusing the former pastor of child sexual abuse. 

On Friday, Lane, who has since left the church, told NBC News that he 'did not fully understand the severity and specific of the sexual abuse she experienced, nor did I know that she was 12 years old when the abuse began.' 

Richard Harmer, a spokesperson for Lane, said that he thought that Clemishire was under 18, but still old enough to consent to a sexual relationship. 
In the state of Oklahoma, where the abuse allegedly took place, the age of consent is 16-years-old.

In April 2005, Lane reached out to Clemishire on behalf of Morris, but she wanted to speak to the former pastor directly.

Lane explained to her that Morris was 'completely open with the Elders of Gateway Church about his past and specifically about his indiscretion with you.' 

He added that even though Morris and his wife treated her with 'caring concern,' they had 'not brought the healing you seek.' 

'The "Blessed Life" that Robert writes about in his book and you refer to in your email, is not one of perfection but one of submission and obedience to God, something that he has made diligent effort to walk in, both in failure and success, for more than twenty years,' Lane wrote to Clemishire. 

'Robert and Debbie have done what they can to help you heal. Our church believes in healing, forgiveness, and restoration of all individuals. We would like to help you find that healing for your life.'  

Just five months after Lane wrote to Clemishire, she allegedly sent a message directly to Morris. 

'I am giving you one last chance to call me. You really have no idea how devastating it will be if you don’t. I don’t want Tom or anyone else to contact me. This is your issue not his,' she said. 

Morris then asked Clemishire what she wanted from him, but she insisted that he get on the phone with her to discuss further. 

'I have suffered almost my entire life from the emotional damage you inflicted on me. If you want to know what I want, call me,' she replied. 

Though he never called her, Clemishire said that Morris' attorney contacted her to plan a meeting with Morris, but that also never happened. 

In a final message to her, Morris said: 'You see the blessings God has poured out on my life and conclude that it is because I have hidden my past.' 

'God does not work that way. He will not be mocked by deceit.' 

'I am deeply saddened by the pain Cindy Clemishire has endured and the recent revelations regarding Pastor Robert Morris,' Lane said in a recent statement. 

'My deepest sympathies go out to Cindy, and I pray her suffering is fully recognized and validated.' 

Gateway Church's Board of Elders sent out a statement confirming they accepted Morris' resignation Tuesday. Morris has not made a public statement. 

The church had previously backed Morris, saying he had been 'open and forthright about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago' but in their statement, now call the behavior unacceptable after discovering the age of the victim. 

Gateway's elder's admitted that they were aware of Morris' relationship with a 'young lady' when he was in his 20s. 

'The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’ 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 church leaders said in a statement.  

This week, the board of elders announced that it hired a law firm to investigate. DailyMail.com contacted  Gateway Church and Morris for comment.

Clemishire has hired Boz Tchividjian to represent her in a new potential lawsuit, according to WFAA. Tchividjian is evangelist Billy Graham's grandson. 

'It seems as if it was preferable for them to simply accept his vague narrative instead of seeking the truth regarding a sexual offense perpetrated upon a minor,' Tchividjian said. 

'The leaders at Gateway had the responsibility to find out what happened and not to blindly accept his words.' 

Morris was never criminally charged and the statute of limitations on such a case has long since ran out.