A megachurch in Texas has removed four church elders from leadership after the organization hired a law firm to conduct a private investigation into the church. sexual abuse allegations against its founder.

On Saturday, November 2, Gateway Church elder Tra Willbanks announced the removal of elders During a service in SouthlakeLocated in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

By sales points NBCDFW and ABC subsidiary WFAAWillbanks updated the congregation on the investigation this weekend. The investigation was conducted by law firm Haynes Boone after accusations against Gateway senior pastor and founder Robert Morris emerged earlier this year.

Morris admitted to “engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct” with a “young lady” in the 1980s after a woman named Cindy Clemishire previously alleged to WFAA that he harassed her from 1982 to 1987. Morris denied harassing Clemishire but resigned from his position. church.

Three of the four major people suspended from the church either knew about Morris’ incident with the alleged victim or “did not investigate further,” Willbanks said.

“We now know that there were elders and staff at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024 that Cindy was 12 years old at the time of the abuse. Both groups are fundamentally at fault and this simply cannot and will not be allowed at Gateway Church,” Willbanks said. he told the congregation, according to the press.

“Based on biblical and moral values ​​and the values ​​of our church family, we have decided to draw a very bright line here, and we can inform you that as of today, no individual in either group is serving as an elder, employed by, or employed by Gateway Church. NBCDFW reports that the church “They were removed,” Willbanks added, to applause from the congregation, before adding that he was cooperating with a criminal investigation.

“To our knowledge, Robert Morris has no other victims other than Cindy Clemishire,” he added.

Willbanks also reportedly said the church was cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation.

Although Willbanks did not specifically name the elders who were suspended from the church, both publications reported that the names of Elders Kevin Grove, Thomas Miller, Jeremy Carrasco and Gayland Lawshe were removed from Gateway’s website.

Want to keep up with the latest crime news? Sign up PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter For breaking crime news, ongoing trial news and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

A previous statement from the church in June clarified that three elders who were on Gateway’s board of elders from 2005 to 2007 — Grove, Dulin and Lawshe — took voluntary, temporary leaves of absence from the board following the law firm’s investigation.

Part of the statement reads: “These three Elders… are honest people who have served the Church of the Gateway with distinction, and each of these three Elders has openly stated that they have no knowledge of the true facts of this situation.”

Clemishire’s attorney, Boz Tchividjian, previously said: NPR In addition to the current investigation, he said Clemishire attempted to file a civil lawsuit against Morris in 2007 regarding the alleged harassment, but ultimately walked away because Morris asked her to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000. church website. The church now has several locations throughout the country.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The helpline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.