. RECENTLY HER SON-IN-LAW CONTACTED THE UNIVERSITY AND FOUND THE ONLY OBLIGATION WAS NO LONGER REQUIRED. >>> THE FOUNDER OF A TEXAS MEGACHURCH RESIGNED AMID CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS. >> THAT'S RIGHT. PASTOR ROBERT MORRIS SERVED AS A FAITH ADVISOR TO THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE. MORRIS ADMITTED TO ENGAGING IN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR WITH A YOUNG LADY IN THE 1980s. THAT WOMAN IS SPEAKING OUT SAYING SHE WAS JUST 12 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME. >> GATEWAY CHURCH LEADERS TOLD NBC NEWS THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PASTOR'S EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR BUT CLAIMED THEY DID NOT KNOW IT WAS WITH A CHILD. NBC NEWS SENIOR INVESTIGATOR HAS BEEN DIGGING INTO THIS STORY AND JOINS US NOW. MIKE, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE STORIES PEOPLE READ ABOUT IN YOUR JAW DROPS ON THE FLOOR. EXPLAINED TO VIEWERS WHO THIS PERSON IS. IT IS A PERSON IN CHRISTIAN CONSERVATISM AS WELL AS REPUBLICAN POLITICS. HOW DO THESE ALLEGATIONS ULTIMATELY COME TO LIGHT? >> THAT'S RIGHT. ROBERT MORRIS WAS THE LEADER OF GATEWAY CHURCH, ONE OF THE NATION'S LARGEST MEGACHURCH IS BASED IN SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS. PROBABLY BETTER KNOWN FOR HIS WORK IN POLITICS TO ADVISING DONALD TRUMP AND ADVOCATING FOR CHRISTIAN MORALITY THROUGH GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS, THE REPUBLICAN POLITICS. ALLEGATIONS CAME TO LIGHT ON FRIDAY AFTER HIS ACCUSER CAME FORWARD AND SAID I WAS 12 YEARS OLD AND DESCRIBED IN GREAT DETAIL ON A BLOG POST TONIGHT IN 1982 WHEN SHE WAS FIRST MOLESTED AND SHE SAID IT WAS BY ROBERT MORRIS. MORRIS AND THE CHURCH RESPONDED THE NEXT DAY WITH A STATEMENT CONFIRMING THE BROAD STROKES OF HER ALLEGATIONS BUT WITH SANITIZING LANGUAGE DESCRIBING HER AS A YOUNG LADY AND DESCRIBING WHAT HAPPENED AS A MORAL FAILURE THAT HE REPENTED FROM AND MOVED ON FROM. >> I THINK IT IS LEGALLY IMPOSSIBLE. AN AFFAIR WITH A CHILD -- THAT IS MOLESTATION IN THE EYES OF THE LAW. THIS IS A STORY PASTOR ROBERT MORRIS WOULD TELL HIS CONGREGATION. HOW DID HE FRAME IT? >> OVER THE YEARS -- AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO CHURCH LEADERS, CURRENT AND FORMER LEADERS WHO HAVE RECALLED STORIES OVER THE YEARS THAT ROBERT MORRIS WOULD TELL. HE DESCRIBED IT AS AN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR, A MORAL FAILURE FOR WHEN HE WAS YOUNG. THEY WERE LED TO BELIEVE IT WAS A CONSENSUAL AFFAIR WITH AN ADULT, A YOUNG WOMAN. AND HE WOULD AT TIMES DESCRIBED HIMSELF ALMOST AS A VICTIM IN THIS STORY. THAT HE WAS SEDUCED BY THIS PERSON AND KIND OF ENTRAPPED INTO CONTINUING THE AFFAIR. PEOPLE WERE OUTRAGED IN THIS CHURCH AND OTHERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHEN THEY REALIZED WHAT HAD ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND THIS WAS A CHILD, NOT AN ADULT. >> MIKE, TALK TO US ABOUT CRIMINAL CHARGES. WHAT ARE THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN THAING SEX ABUSE SOMETHING LIKE THIS? >> THE CURRENT STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS WOULD ALLOW FOR A CHARGE TO COME ANY TIME OR
