WASHINGTON (BP) – A bill receiving bipartisan support to void nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases related to child sexual abuse and trafficking was introduced in the U.S. Senate today.
Trey’s Law, brought forward by U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), would be a federalized version of Trey’s Act. It is named for Trey Carlock, who was a victim of sexual abuse at Kanakuk Kamps in Southwest Missouri and brought civil litigation against the camp following camp director Pete Newman’s guilty sentence of three life sentences.
Carlock’s case ended with an NDA as part of the settlement terms with Kanakuk. Treyslaw.org describes the NDA as “restrictive and intimidating,” and it led Carlock, at 28 years old, to tell a therapist, “They will always control me, and I’ll never be free.”
Cruz stood before reporters today with Gillibrand, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) and Elizabeth Phillips, Carlock’s sister to speak about the bill.
“Trey’s Law will protect, defend and support children who are the victims of sexual assault,” said Cruz. “It ensures that nondisclosure agreements cannot be used to silence minors who have endured abuse. At the same time, the bill preserves the confidentiality of settlement amounts and allows victims themselves to insist on privacy if they so choose.
“It gives the victims the power. What it does not allow is the forced silencing of victims in order to protect the abusers.”
Missouri and Texas were among the first states to pass Trey’s Law, doing so last spring. Jeff Leach, a Southern Baptist and member of Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, was among five authors of the House version of the Texas bill.
With the state laws’ passage, Jeff Dalrymple, director of abuse prevention and response for the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, urged ministry leaders to consider the “ethical and moral implications of NDA use.”
“They should never be used to prevent survivors of abuse from sharing their stories or to allow responsible parties to avoid responsibility for their actions,” he said.
Versions of Trey’s Law have since also been passed in Alabama, Tennessee, California and other states, Cruz added.
“These are meaningful steps in the right direction. But we owe it to Trey and every other victim to ensure that they have a right to speak about their experiences,” he said. “They have a right to rely on those around them and that they know their stories will not be silenced. And most importantly, that they’re not alone.”
According to court documents, Newman groomed and abused Carlock from the age of 7 to age 16. He would join dozens of other camp attendees, under John Doe pseudonyms, who either sued or reached settlements with Newman and Kanakuk under the agreement that they wouldn’t talk further about the abuse. According to his sister, several former campers, including Trey himself, have died by suicide.
“NDAs were created to protect trade secrets, not trauma secrets,” said Phillips. “They have since been misused to intimidate victims and in any other circumstance would be rightfully called a bribe, your voice in exchange for restitution. Trey survived horrific child sexual abuse and what we now believe was also trafficking. On top of that, the NDA requested and pushed specifically by Kanakuk was so restrictive that Trey was scared to share his trauma even in therapeutic settings. How do you heal when you don’t have a voice?”
The law, she added, communicates worth to those who have experienced sexual abuse.
“It tells survivors that they matter more than a bad actor’s reputation or a liable institution’s precious profits. Today, we are standing with you, survivors, to say you deserve to own your own story.”
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