Last month after the exposure of Gateway Church founding pastor Robert Morris for sexually abusing a child in the 1980s, I wrote about issues with other pastors on staff. One was former pastor David Smith, and in my post about Smith, I wrote about convicted child sex offender, Stephen Wilson. Wilson is the Gateway Church prison ministries pastor. Wilson was arrested in July 2002 and charged with three counts of indecency with a minor. The minor, a 13-year-old girl, had been a student at a North Richland Hills middle school where Stephen Wilson was a science teacher and football coach. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
I noticed today that Gateway Church has made some changes to Stephen’s bio on their website. Last month when I wrote about Wilson, his bio mentioned his time in prison. Today, his bio has changed with no mention of his prison time.
Before
After
In newly uncovered audio clips, Stephen Wilson speaks about welcoming people released from prison into involvement at Gateway Church campuses no matter what they have done. These clips are from a January 2021 podcast on Air1 News with Monika Kelly.
In the next audio from a podcast in August 2023, Stephen Wilson discusses being a science teacher and football coach at a middle school in the Birdville Independent School District. Wilson describes a time when his marriage was struggling. He says he wasn’t getting the “accolades and atta boys” at home, so he “started looking for them somewhere else.” He mentions seeking connections with ladies at work. He liked to feel “like he was the man, he was the guy.” He says that his incarceration was a result of letting his students get too close. He says that he had “horrible boundaries as an educator with my students.” He places blame on the student for letting her get “too close” to him. He clearly does not take responsibility for his actions in sexually abusing a child.
Wilson also tells a different story about his “confession” than what was reported in local news about his arrest at the time. He said that his wife found some letters and after some time went by, he decided that he needed to turn himself in to police. The Star Telegram reported that the principal made a report to police. Wilson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted indecency with a child as part of a plea deal.
In this January 2024 article, The Social Media Girl Goes to Prison, Britt Allen wrote about the prison ministry at Gateway Church, her own church.
Texas Church Opens Campuses Behind Prison Walls
These are a few photos from Gateway Prison Ministries social media posts. I have blurred out close ups of kids’ faces. The original photos are not redacted. The kids’ faces are shown.
