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A Dallas County judge on Tuesday denied efforts by Gateway Church and church elders to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it centers a religious issue that secular courts shouldn't be involved in.

A Dallas judge will decide whether her court has jurisdiction over Cindy Clemishire's lawsuit against Gateway Church and Robert Morris, the former pastor who's been convicted of sexually abusing her as a child. The Southlake megachurch argues the case deals with religious matters over which a secular civil court has no authority.

From sexual abuse that began in the 1980s to his guilty plea more than 30 years later, this is a timeline of everything that happened in Robert Morris' legal saga.

Robert Morris will serve 6 months in Osage County Jail in Oklahoma.

John McKinzie served as lead pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Frisco. He resigned Sunday, according to church leadership.

Robert Morris is set to appear in court again Oct. 2.

Diego Fuller, 39, was charged with sexual assault.

The woman who accused Gateway Church’s founding pastor Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was a child is suing the megachurch, Morris and his wife for defamation and failing to report the alleged abuse. Four church elders deny any wrongdoing in recent court filings.

Jim Mustain was arrested in April in North Carolina before being extradited to Texas in May.

Morris stepped down days after allegations he sexual abused Cindy Clemishire when she was a child.

Cindy Clemishire accused Robert Morris of sexually abusing her when she was a child — claims he referred to as a "inappropriate relationship with a young lady." Clemishire is suing Morris and Gateway Church for defamation her when she went public with her claims.

Jim Mustain served at Preston Trail Community Church from 2019 to 2023. He was arrested in May on five child pornography charges.