Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas announced a new bill on Tuesday that he said would address the abuse of confidentiality agreements in civil cases covering up child sex abuse and trafficking.
The legislation, known as the TREY’S Law to End Restrictive Enforcement in Youth Settlements, is a bipartisan agreement led by Cruz and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., along with other Republican senators including Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmidt of Missouri.
Any NDA provision is unenforceable if the bill prohibits or restricts a person from disclosing sexual abuse of a minor or facts related to that abuse. This protection applies regardless of when the confidentiality agreement was signed, whether before the dispute arose or as part of a civil settlement agreement.
The bill is named for Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who committed suicide at age 28 after recalling painful memories of sexual abuse during a civil lawsuit against Kanakook Ministries in Branson, Missouri. Before his death, Carlock allegedly told a therapist, “They will always have control over me and I will never be free.”
Cruz said Carlock, like countless others, was groomed and sexually abused as a child by famed Kanakuk Campos director Pete Newman. However, due to Texas’ civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases, Carlock was required to file a civil lawsuit before he turned 23, which became public knowledge through a 2009 criminal investigation. He said Kanakuk forced victims to settle settlements that included restrictive confidentiality agreements, concealed what the camp knew about Newman and withheld other important information from the public.
Carlock’s sister, Elizabeth Phillips, said passage of the bill would tell every survivor currently living under a confidentiality agreement that their voices are their own again, that they can speak freely about what happened to them and that what they have to say matters.
“Trefa not only protects future victims; it also restores the voices of those who have been silenced by existing nondisclosure agreements,” she said.
Carlock’s case and subsequent fallout attracted national attention as other victims of sexual abuse began to speak out against confidentiality agreements, and the movement is now gaining support among the country’s highest-level lawmakers.
“No child who has been sexually abused should be forced to suffer this horror in silence. Nondisclosure agreements are often used to protect abusers, with immeasurable catastrophic consequences for victims,” Cruz said. “We have a responsibility to ensure that victims have the right to speak about their experiences and that contracts are not used to silence survivors.”
Gillibrand said she is proud to lead this important legislation because nondisclosure agreements have long been used to silence survivors of child sexual abuse and shield perpetrators from accountability. She said Trey’s Law would invalidate predatory confidentiality agreements and allow minor sexual abuse victims to speak out about their experiences today.
“Survivors should have the right to tell their stories and hold their abusers accountable,” she said.
Texas signed a version of Trey’s Law into law last year. Lawmakers initially focused the legislation on crimes against victims of child sexual abuse, but expanded it after hearing testimony that it should apply to victims of all ages.
Other states have passed similar laws, including Missouri, Tennessee, California and Alabama. Versions of the legislation have been filed in Oklahoma, Georgia, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky and West Virginia.
These measures are supported by the American Institute for Justice, the National Alliance to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, the National Alliance for Children, Project Zero, the Texas Children’s Advocacy Center and the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
“Abusers seek to silence survivors of child sexual abuse. The justice system should not do the same thing. Trefa will allow survivors’ voices to be heard and hold abusers accountable,” said Stefan Turkheimer, RAINN’s Vice President of Public Policy.
