Elizabeth Carlock Phillips’ brother Trey Carlock was 7 years old when he was first groomed and sexually abused by serial sex offender Pete Newman from Missouri-based summer camp Kanakuk Kamps — abuse that would go on for a decade and ultimately lead to Trey’s death.
Trey died by suicide at the age of 28 in 2019, when Phillips said she began to learn more about the extent of his abuse that was kept hidden because of a nondisclosure agreement.
Trey Carlock was forced to file his civil case against Kanukuk Kamps by the Texas Civil Statute of Limitations when he was 23, which ended with a settlement involving a restrictive nondisclosure agreement, or NDA, she said.
“Now that I know what I know and have caught my breath, I’m trying to be a voice for Trey and the countless other victims of childhood crimes who are suffering in the shadows due to NDAs that restrict them from speaking in settings like this,” Elizabeth Phillips told state lawmakers at a Texas House committee hearing Wednesday.
Phillips was one of several child sexual abuse advocates and survivors who shared their testimony during a Texas House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence committee in support of a bill that seeks to prohibit the misuse of NDAs against child sexual abuse and trafficking victims in civil settlement agreements — what would be known as “Trey’s Law.”
Trey’s Law, or HB 748, was approved unanimously Wednesday to move to the full House of Representatives for approval. After the House vote, the bill would still need Senate approval to pass in the Texas Legislature and reach the governor’s desk.
It was filed by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, after Phillips and others first shared their testimonies at an interim hearing in October.
Among those who spoke both in October and at Wednesday's hearing was Cindy Clemishire, whose alleged abuser Robert Morris was indicted on child sexual abuse charges in Oklahoma last week. Clemishire accused Morris of abusing her in the 1980s when she was a child.
Morris, the now-disgraced founding pastor of Southlake-based megachurch Gateway Church, turned himself in to Oklahoma authorities Monday.
Clemishire has been outspoken about her alleged abuse from Morris and the NDA that was offered to her in 2007 that she refused to sign.
After the first time Morris allegedly molested her, Clemishire said Morris warned her: “Never tell anyone about this because it will ruin everything.”
The alleged abuse went on for more than four years before Clemishire said she confided to a friend about it.
“When I did finally tell someone, it seemed as though Robert Morris was right, it ruined everything,” she told lawmakers during Wednesday’s hearing. “Friendships ended, marriages of mutual family friends ended, my relationship with my parents, siblings, friends and others took a shift. And at 17 years old in 1987, I felt like as if it was all my fault.”
Twenty years later, Clemishire’s attorney asked for $50,000 from Morris to compensate for years of past and future therapy. In response, Morris’ attorney blamed Clemishire for the alleged abuse and offered her $25,000 in 2007 if she agreed to sign an NDA.
“As I began the lifelong journey to sort through these emotional challenges, my life seemed to attract more shame while Robert’s attracted fame,” Clemishire said through tears Wednesday.
NDAs can be part of a larger settlement agreement or a standalone contract wherein one or more parties agree that certain information will remain confidential. While NDAs were created to keep proprietary business information like trade secrets or sensitive client information confidential, they've sparked controversy in recent years over their use in civil settlements related to sexual misconduct.
In addition to Leach’s HB 748, four other versions of “Trey’s Law” have been introduced in Texas this session. Leach’s bill is the first to get a hearing in Texas.
“What is happening with these NDAs it is truly a re-traumatization of a victim,” Leach said. “When you tell them they can not tell their story, when they are under the threat of them losing whatever settlement or whatever care has been promised to them, they are unable to talk about what happened to them, it is truly in many cases just as traumatic as the original abuse itself.”
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s breaking news reporter.
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