In 2016, US President Donald Trump appointed megachurch pastor Robert Morris his spiritual adviser and a member of his envangelical advisory committee. But nine years later, the Texas pastor is grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Pastor Morris pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a girl of 12 in Oklahoma in the 1980s, reported the BBC, adding that he entered the guilty plea during a hearing on October 2.

He admitted to felony charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

As a part of the plea agreement, the former leader of Gateway Church was handed a 10-year sentence, but will only serve six months in jail and be on probation for the rest of the time.

He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 (shs862.8m) in restitution.

The pastor attended the hearing at a courthouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, alongside his wife, his adult children and several of their spouses, the BBC reported, citing its US partner CBS News.

He was handcuffed and detained after Thursday’s hearing, NBC News reported.

Pastor Morris founded Gateway church in Southlake, Texas, growing it into one of the top 10 largest megachurches in the US, with more than 25,000 visitors weekly, The Guardian reported.

It said Cindy Clemishire, 55, the woman who publicly identified herself as the victim of Morris’s sexual abuse, was present in the courtroom as the pastor pleaded guilty.

Reading from prepared text, she told him: “There is no such thing as consent from a 12-year-old child. We were never in an ‘inappropriate relationship.’ I was not a ‘young lady’ but a child. You committed a crime against me.”

Her sister Karen Black also read a statement, saying: “You pretended to be holy, preaching from big pulpits. As you hid behind your facade, we’ve known you are nothing but a predator.”

Morris resigned from the church last year after Clemishire went public. She had spent years trying to hold her abuser accountable.

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