Washington, DC — Congressman Brandon Gill (R-TX) today introduced Trey’s Law, a bipartisan effort that prohibits enforcement of NDAs or confidentiality agreements that prevent victims or witnesses from disclosing child sexual abuse. This legislation strengthens protections for victims to ensure that child abusers cannot compel them into silence. Congresswoman Julie Johnson (D-TX) is the colead on this legislation.
The bill is named for Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who was sexually abused as a child at a summer camp, silenced by a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), retraumatized through litigation, and tragically died by suicide at age 28. Current federal law (the Speak Out Act) limits pre-dispute NDAs in sexual abuse cases but does not address confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements—leaving gaps for victims of child sexual abuse.