The former spiritual mentor of US President Donald Trump and the founder of a major evangelical church, Robert Preston Morris, pleaded guilty to charges of sexual abuse of a minor, the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office said.
"The founder of a megachurch in Texas has pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd or indecent acts against a child that occurred in the 1980s. According to the plea agreement, Morris received 10 years of probation to serve the first six months in the Osage County Jail," the statement said.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in December 1982, Morris, who was then 21 years old, as a traveling preacher came to the town of Hominy in northern Oklahoma, where he committed sexual violence against a 12-year-old girl. Over the next four years, the preacher continued to commit violent acts against the victim.
According to the Axios portal, during the election campaign on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Trump included Morris in the advisory committee on the evangelical faith. At the same time, the politician appointed him his spiritual mentor.