In a recent development, it has come to light that Gateway Church settled a lawsuit involving several pastors and a youth leader who were accused of concealing a sexual assault of a minor by another member. This settlement occurred just two months before the resignation of Gateway Church founder Robert Morris, who faced an explosive allegation of child sex abuse.
A lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County Texas in August 2020 on behalf of a minor identified as A.D. and her mother, who The Christian Post doesn’t name in this piece. Gateway Church, Denise Edwards, youth leader Logan Edwards, Doug Vaughn, and Gateway Church pastors Kelly Jones, Rebecca Wilson, Samantha Golden, Mondo Davis, and Sion Alford have all been named as defendants.
The plaintiffs involved in the case were both part of Gateway and were seeking damages ranging from over $200,000 to under $5,000,000.
On April 18, Gateway Church and its pastors reached a settlement in a case where they were accused of negligence and breaching their fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs. They did not accept any liability and stated that they settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount in order to resolve the matter peacefully.
Before the sexual assault occurred, the minor and her mother were regular attendees of worship services and actively involved in different ministries and church events. On or around March 14, 2018, a minor was subjected to a sexual assault by an unidentified individual at their private residence.
As a youth leader at Gateway Church, defendant Logan reportedly learned about the sexual assault from conversations with the alleged perpetrator and other youth who attended Gateway as reported by The Christian Post.
The Gateway pastors and other defendants in the case reportedly had numerous discussions with the accused member and their parents. Upon discovering the unfortunate incident involving her daughter, the mother promptly lodged a report with the Haltom City Police Department.