A newly posted photograph of disgraced Gateway Church founder Robert Morris is raising questions after the former megachurch pastor appeared with a black eye, a swollen lip and other visible facial injuries.
The striking image was added to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website on Tuesday, September 15, reportedly following Morris' quarterly verification appointment with law-enforcement officials in Palo Pinto County. However, his attorney says there is no mystery-or altercation-behind the injuries.
Attorney Bill Mateja told FOX 4 that Morris was in his garage last week when he bent down to pick something up. According to Mateja, Morris passed out as he stood back up, struck a car door and then fell onto the concrete floor. His wife, Debbie Morris, reportedly witnessed the incident.
Mateja said Morris was treated in an emergency room and diagnosed with three broken facial bones. Doctors reportedly believe the medical episode may have been caused by Morris taking blood-pressure medication on an empty stomach. The attorney said the former pastor is now recovering.
The unsettling new photograph marks Morris' first registry check-in since his release from an Oklahoma jail in March. Once one of America's most prominent megachurch pastors, Morris is now required to register as a sex offender for life.
Morris pleaded guilty in October 2025 to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The charges concerned his sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire, who was 12 years old when the abuse began during the 1980s. Morris was 21 at the time.
Under the plea agreement, Morris received a ten-year sentence but was required to serve only six months in the Osage County Jail. He will remain on probation through 2036.
Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, in 2000 and helped transform it into one of the largest churches in the United States. He resigned as senior pastor in June 2024 after Clemishire's allegations became public and he acknowledged past "sexual behavior" involving her. Clemishire and her supporters strongly objected to that wording, emphasizing that a child cannot consent to sexual activity.
The new registry photograph offers another dramatic image of Morris' fall from the pulpit. Although his injuries have inevitably fueled online speculation, his attorney maintains that they resulted from a medical incident and accidental fall-not an assault.
