AUSTIN, Texas – A proposed bill that would make non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for child sexual abuse cases (CSA) void and unenforceable has passed the Texas House, according to a spokesperson for the bill.
Trey’s Law, named in honor of Trey Carlock, was passed on Tuesday unanimously and will be awaiting a hearing in the Senate.
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According to the bill, NDAs that prohibit a person in a CSA from notifying or disclosing facts regarding acts of sexual abuse during an investigation related to a resolution in the case would no longer be enforceable. This would include the identity of the offender.
Rep. Mitch Little, one of the House representatives advancing the bill, said this during the voting remarks.
“I’m going to share with you a hard truth. In litigation, the most valuable thing that these boys and girls had to sell was their silence. The purpose of this legislation is to notify sexual abusers and the organizations that harbor them that silence is no longer for sale in the State of Texas.”
Rep. Jeff Leach, author of the proposed bill and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, quoted victim advocate and Carlock’s older sister, Elizabeth Carlock Phillips: “The use of NDAs in settlement agreements is essentially lawful hush money. It is institutional abuse on top of sexual abuse.”
Trey Carlock, for whom the bill is named, was from Dallas, Texas, and a survivor of child sex abuse. According to the Trey’s Law website, he died by suicide at 28 after being retraumatized by a civil litigation process against Kanakuk Ministries.
The website said the former director of this organization, Pete Newman, groomed and sexually abused Trey and others during his time at the Missouri-based Christian sports camp.
Carlock needed to file civil litigation at 23 to meet the state’s civil statute of limitations for CSA cases when his abuse became known through a criminal investigation in 2009.
This led to the ministry placing him and others under settlements and restrictive NDAs, which kept important information about Newman from being revealed to the public.
According to the website, before Trey’s death, he told a therapist that he felt controlled and would “never be free” from the abuse.
A version of Trey’s Law has been passed in Tennessee, while California and Florida have similar laws prioritizing victims over confidentiality agreements.
In addition to Texas, Missouri has also proposed a “Trey’s Law” bill, according to the website.
If passed in Texas, the law would go into effect on Sept. 1.
