Verdict with Ted Cruz: Trey's Law — Protecting the Victims of Child Sex Abuse
3/25/202656 mincomplete
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0:33T's and C's apply. Welcome.
0:36It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
0:39And Senator, you're in Washington, D .C.
0:41with a very special guest on a very important piece of legislation.
0:45This is one of those shows that there is an extremely important piece of legislation
0:51that you are working on in Washington, D .C.
0:53And there are countless people that listen to the show that may know victims.
0:56And this is a show I hope you will hit pause.
1:00You will share it on social media because it is an important law that we're
1:04talking about right now. Well, that's exactly right.
1:06And this is a special show because we're talking today about child sexual abuse.
1:12And it is an epidemic across this country.
1:15So many children are the victims of sexual abuse.
1:18And we're going to talk about legislation that I introduced today in the Senate to
1:23empower the victims of sexual abuse.
1:26And a very special guest that is joining us today.
1:32And you're going to get a chance to hear about her journey and tragically her
1:37brother's journey as a victim of sexual abuse.
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2:54Senator, I want to be clear for everybody that's going to hear this show.
2:58It's on YouTube. It's on Facebook.
3:00I hope you'll share it and just take the time.
3:03Because there are people that are out there that need to hear this show that
3:06are victims. And this is one of those important shows where you don't know whose
3:11life you're going to be able to help and affect in a positive way.
3:13Whose life literally could be saved because of this show and the information that they're
3:20going to hear. And this legislation center that you introduced today in Washington, D .C.
3:25is incredible. And your guest, who's with you in D .C.
3:28as well, it's amazing the story that she is telling, but also just how powerful
3:35it is to stand up for so many others that need help.
3:39Well, that's right. This week I introduced legislation in the Senate called Trey's Law.
3:43And it is designed to protect kids, kids who tragically are the victims of sexual
3:49assault. And Trey's Law prohibits nondisclosure agreements binding children who have been victims of sexual
3:58assault. And this is a problem we are seeing nationwide.
4:04A staggering statistic. A child in America is sexually abused every nine minutes.
4:12Yeah. One in four girls in America will be sexually abused before she turns 18.
4:20One in six boys in America will be sexually abused before he turns 18.
4:26And we have been seeing over and over again when their violators are held accountable,
4:35when they're prosecuted, and when there is civil litigation, that it is becoming routine for
4:43the violators to insist upon a nondisclosure agreement, a nondisclosure agreement that binds the children
4:50and forces them to be silent.
4:52And Trey's Law is named for a Texan, Trey Carlock, who horrifically was abused at
5:01a summer camp in Missouri, abused over a number of years.
5:05And his abuser was prosecuted, and his abuser is serving three consecutive life terms in
5:12prison. And in the course of civil litigation, Trey was convinced to sign a nondisclosure
5:21agreement. And that secret... And that secret...
5:24... Thank you. Haunted him.
5:28So much so that at 28 years old, he took his own life.
5:35And that is a tragedy in his life and his family's life, but it's a
5:41tragedy nationally. And we have a guest on the podcast tonight who is another Texan,
5:48Elizabeth Phillips. Elizabeth is Trey's sister.
5:52And she has taken the grief and agony of losing her brother and of knowing
6:00what happened to him. Losing her brother, it's one thing to lose a sibling in
6:05a car accident. My sister died of a drug overdose.
6:11It is always difficult to lose a family member that you love.
6:17But it is particularly gut -wrenching to lose a family member who you know was
6:27the victim of abuse and was haunted by that.
6:31And I will tell you, Elizabeth, she lives in Dallas.
6:34And she has devoted thousands of hours to fighting for Trey's Law.
6:41Trey's Law has been adopted in a number of states, including Texas.
6:43Texas has adopted Trey's Law at the state level.
6:49But today, with a group of seven bipartisan co -sponsors, I've introduced it at the
6:58federal level. And we're going to get past it at the federal level, but I
7:00want to start. Elizabeth, welcome to Verde.
7:02We're glad to have you.
7:03Thank you so much for not just the introduction of Trey's Law to U .S.
7:08Congress this morning, but for offering this platform as well.
7:10And I agree. I hope it goes viral.
7:13Every parent needs to understand how this system works, because I think there are a
7:17lot of assumptions that if your child is sexually abused, whether it be at a
7:21summer camp, which was Trey's story, or a school, or a faith -based setting, or
7:26a sports setting, they're going to come forward immediately.
7:28But there's something called delayed disclosure.
7:31Children that are victimized in this way don't come forward oftentimes for decades, if ever
7:35at all. And we need to be sure that we are protecting children and their
7:40voices so that when they do come forward, survivors are heard, believed, and that we
7:46can respond with action to hold the bad actors accountable.
7:49Yeah. So thank you for the conversation.
7:51Well, thank you for being here.
7:53Let me ask you, could you just tell your brother's story, just share with our
7:57listeners and viewers, tell folks who your brother was and what happened to him?
8:03Yeah, and thank you for going into some of that in your introduction, because it's
8:06honestly the hardest part for me to talk about.
8:09I can go over stats and data about child sexual abuse and ways to prevent
8:13it all day long, but it's really hard for me to talk about Trey.
8:19And I didn't know that you also lost a sibling, so I'm sorry for your
8:23loss, and I'm sorry we can relate on that.
8:25Yeah, that's not a club anyone wants to be a member of.
8:28Exactly. But I think also we understand that you can grieve it and move on,
8:38or you can grieve it and turn that pain into purpose.
8:42And I think what we saw at the press conference this morning was pain turned
8:45into power when there was a 19 -year -old young woman who came forward and
8:49named her abuser for the first time because her voice was protected under Trey's law
8:52since that was passed and put into effect in Missouri last August.
8:56And so that's what we're wanting to expand nationally.
8:59This journey for me began because my brother died by suicide when he was 28,
9:03not only due to the child sexual abuse and what we now believe to be
9:09trafficking at the Hand of Canna Cut camps based in southwest Missouri.
9:12They had international mission trips.
9:14They were moving kids across state lines.
9:15It was never fully investigated.
9:17The criminal case landed in Taney County, Missouri in the Sheriff's Department.
9:22And at the time of my brother's perpetrator sentencing, there were 57 known victims.
9:29But we now have had many victims come forward since I started a website called
9:34FactsAboutCannaCuck .com with other survivor families to get the facts out there to parents and
9:39warn the public that this is much more widespread than what had been reported upon,
9:43massive cover -up, which is not unusual in a lot of these situations because of
9:49NDAs. So that's what we're addressing with Trey's law that's now been introduced to Congress.
9:53Very bipartisan. You said, you know, no one you've brought this to has said no
9:58to it. I mean, it's something everyone should get behind and hopefully can get behind.
10:03You know, in Trey's story, he was groomed and then abused by a camp director.
10:08So 7 to 17, this was going on.
10:11So he was 7 when he started going to the camp?
10:13When he started going to the camp.
10:14And that's when the grooming began.
10:17And then the sexual abuse began.
10:20And then his perpetrator, who, like you said, is now in prison for three life
10:25terms, confessed to his crimes and was sentenced in 2010.
10:30But under the civil statute of limitations in Texas, Trey was forced to file his
10:33civil lawsuit by the age of 23.
10:35And just imagine, you know, go back to when you were 23.
10:38Were you ready to go up against a system and a quote -unquote ministry like
10:44Kanakuk that has between $35 and $45 million in annual revenue?
10:48I mean, at 23, you're still a kid.
10:50We call them college kids, right?
10:51You're just trying to get through college.
10:53Oh, yeah. Start a job, build a life, and if someone puts a settlement agreement
10:57in front of you and says, sign on the dotted line, and this can all
11:00go away, and you can have restitution and some money for your healing, for therapy,
11:09or for lost income, you're probably going to do it.
11:13And for closure. And for healing and closure.
11:17Thank you. I say that because I have friends that worked at Cannecuck during the
11:22time period you're talking about.
11:23I also know people that were abused at Cannecuck.
11:28And this story, when I saw we were doing it, it's, I've lost friends who've
11:32committed suicide because of sexual abuse.
11:34But Cannecuck is a place where, I went to Ole Miss.
11:37A lot of people I grew up with from Memphis, from Houston, they went to
11:41Cannecuck. And the cover -up word that you used there is, I think, one of
11:46the most sad parts about all this is there was so many of these NDAs,
11:51Senator, I didn't realize it, like, how much this was going to just bring up
11:55in me. But when you know people that were abused there, and you've sat with
11:59them, and you hear how the system did not protect them, but I actually think
12:03made them a victim a second time over, by the way that they use these
12:07NDAs, it is infuriating because you realize that, like, everything in this situation worked against
12:13them for years. Yeah. And that's what came in the Texas hearings.
12:17I was calling this institutional abuse on top of child sexual abuse.
12:22So, you're exactly right. And, yes, Memphis is a huge market for Cannecuck and Kids
12:28of America, which is another ministry outside of Branson that Joe White still runs to
12:34this day. There's been no change in leadership.
12:37No one's been held accountable because of these crimes.
12:39And so, you were asking about my story and how we got to this point.
12:43And, really, it was because I learned more about my brother's trauma and his death
12:49than I knew in his life because of the NDA.
12:52So, until Trey's Law went into effect in Texas, September of 2025, I never saw
12:58what he signed. He wouldn't talk about it.
13:00He was so terrified, even in therapeutic settings, even trying to get sober in AA,
13:05for example. He was worried Cannecuck would come after him if he mentioned all of
13:10the people involved that knew about what Pete was doing and didn't report the crimes
13:14to the authorities or disciplined him internally.
13:18And, that allowed this perpetrator to go on and abuse what we now know as
13:24hundreds of more victims. And, that's one perpetrator alone.
13:27So, victims of Cannecuck have asked for three things.
13:31Admit to known failures. Release NDAs.
13:33And, commission an independent investigation.
13:36Since, as I mentioned, the Taney County Sheriff's Department missed a few spots.
13:40That's, we don't need to rabbit hole on that right now.
13:43But, that's the three S's of survivors, very common sense steps they could take.
13:47So, we've done Cannecuck's job for them.
13:49And, we've found out that they're, we now know of over 90 perpetrators with allegations
13:54against them. Affiliated with Cannecuck and its associated ministries and programs across the country and
13:59world. 90. Over 90. So, the 90, how many have been held accountable?
14:06I've got to know that number because, as I was told about this several months
14:10ago, they said that, not only are there still people in the 90, as you're
14:15describing, that are affiliated. There are some that are still in major leadership roles.
14:19And, around children. Yes. So, we're calling it out, again, doing Cannecuck's job for them.
14:25I think, as parents, we have an expectation that if a child molester or a
14:31sex offender is caught at an institution where your child was attending or enrolled, that
14:37you will be informed. If they are ever charged with anything criminal, that is not
14:42what Cannecuck has done. So, we've done that job for them.
14:45So, factsaboutcannecuck .com. We have a known abusers page where we name 13, and it
14:51might even be more now, that have convictions that are, yeah.
14:56They have criminal indictments, convictions, or formal allegations in the media corroborated by multiple victims.
15:03And then, the rest of the perpetrators in our database are just still out there
15:08living their lives. And a lot of them have never been held accountable.
15:14We know who they are.
15:15We've turned that database over to the authorities, and we are hoping that the FBI
15:19or some sort of law enforcement agency takes action.
15:23But the normal thing to do when you're not covering up for pedophiles as an
15:27institution, using NDAs, and continuing to promote pedophiles within your organization, or moving them around
15:35to associated ministries, which is another thing Cannecuck has done.
15:38They have a year -round ministry called K -Life, similar to Young Life, which I
15:42think is better known. They will move someone that has allegations at the camp to
15:46a chapter of K -Life, where they go on to continue harming children.
15:49So, our known abusers page is supposed to be a public -facing database for when
15:55we know a Cannecuck affiliate has been convicted, indicted, or formally alleged of child sexual
16:01abuse. And the rest of it will come to light over time as more and
16:05more victims come forward. The list continues to grow.
16:07And with exposure like this, we expect even more.
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17:47So one of the things you described, we did a press conference today announcing Trey's
17:52law in the Senate. And you described the pressure that was on your brother, not
17:58just from the camp, but also from his own lawyer.
18:02Share that story a little bit.
18:04Yeah. So, you know, one of the questions as we were going state by state,
18:08you know, starting in Texas, because that's my home state and that's where Trey grew
18:12up. We spent a few years also in Atlanta, Georgia.
18:15Georgia's introduced Trey's law along with eight other jurisdictions, but then Missouri passed Trey's law
18:20last August. And, you know, my brother was abused in so many jurisdictions that there
18:28were different options for the venue in his civil case.
18:32He's moved in Texas, as I mentioned, that ended with a settlement agreement that involved
18:37a restrictive NDA. And he was an adult when he sued for the child sexual
18:41abuse that he suffered, but he hadn't fully realized even to talk to his therapist.
18:45Exactly. And, you know, that therapist after his death, I started doing my own investigation
18:50to understand what just happened to my brother.
18:54And that therapist said that he had made a comment just before he died that
19:00they would always control him and he would never be free.
19:03And that's what it feels like living under an NDA.
19:07And in America, where we stand on freedom and freedom of speech and anyone who
19:13studied constitutional law, I mean, that is a right as an American citizen to have
19:19freedom of speech and we protect it with veracity.
19:22But in this case, there's been a misuse of NDAs, which originally were created to
19:28protect an intellectual property, like the Coca -Cola recipe or trade secrets.
19:35And they've since been misused to silence victims of childhood sexual abuse, trafficking, even adult
19:43sexual assault survivors. That was addressed in the Speak Out Act that passed in 2022
19:47with the co -sponsor of Trey's Law, Senator Gillibrand.
19:50And, um, but kids are being put under these NDAs and kids, they can't consent
19:56to contracts or clauses like this.
19:58Um, and so oftentimes it's a guardian or a parent who is signing this NDA
20:02on behalf of their child.
20:04The child grows up, becomes a young man or woman, realizes what their parents signed
20:09and that they can't own their own story.
20:12Um, and, and it's just a bond.
20:15Or even feel like they can't heal because they can't talk about it because they're
20:19so afraid talking to one person that was a victim of this.
20:23They described it to me this way.
20:24They said, Canada basically had enough money to buy silence to protect the brand because
20:31they knew if we were told our stories, the brand would die and all the
20:35money would stop coming in.
20:36That's a simplistic way, but you mentioned their revenue.
20:40This was, you got to spend money to save this brand and continue to grow
20:45in sports and all the other activities that they, that they do.
20:48I mean, that, is that a fair way of putting it?
20:51I think that's, yeah, that's definitely a fair way of putting it.
20:54And to add the other thing, that's a, a layer of trauma in this is
20:59that their coverup bought enough time for these victims to be out of statute.
21:03So they can't, now that they know the extent of the coverup, unless under a
21:08certain discovery rule, which you could speak to as a lawyer, Senator, but, uh, they
21:12can't even have access to the civil courts in the jurisdiction where they were abused.
21:17So in Missouri, the civil statute of limitations to sue an institution that's liable for
21:22child sexual abuse or trafficking has been the age of 26.
21:25And that's been unchanged since 1939.
21:28And so we're doing a lot of advocacy work in Missouri to say, survivors need
21:33more time. As I said, when you asked the first question, there is a lot
21:38of research on delayed disclosure.
21:40My brother was unfortunately forced into disclosure because he was named as a victim during
21:46the criminal proceedings. And So he didn't have decades to process what happened to him
21:51and then come forward. But victims that weren't named or who came forward closer to
21:56the time of Pete Newman's arrest to name one of, again, over 90 perpetrators we're
22:01aware of to date. How was he caught?
22:04How was his abuse discovered?
22:07There are a few theories on that.
22:08Kanekuk hasn't really been transparent about what led to his confession.
22:12So I would love to know the answer to that question, and that's why an
22:15independent investigation or some sort of law enforcement agency stepping in is so necessary in
22:19this. He confessed, allegedly, in March 2009 to abusing seven boys.
22:26And then he wasn't arrested until September 2009 after summer camp season went uninterrupted.
22:34And then upon arrest, they started investigating him criminally, and then that led to his
22:40sentencing in February 2010. Here we are in 2026, and because of facts about Kanekuk,
22:47which was created by Coalition of Survivor Families, and then recent publicity through USA Today
22:53published five articles on this.
22:55The Dispatch published it. The New York Times.
23:00I just went on the Sean Ryan Show.
23:02And we're getting more and more disclosures, not just about Pete Newman, but other perpetrators
23:07associated with Kanekuk and other leadership who covered this up.
23:10And they're calling attorneys who are saying, I'm sorry, you're 15, 30, 45 years, too
23:18late. So victims don't know they're on the clock when perpetrators know exactly when, and
23:25institutions like Kanekuk know exactly when the deadline is to file a civil lawsuit against
23:29them. So they've bought enough time at this point for the cover -up to have
23:33worked. Well, one of the things you talked about at the press conference today is
23:37how your brother's lawyer was pressuring him to sign this NDA.
23:45And the incentives of the current system, look, an abuser has every incentive in the
23:51world to try to cover it up, to try to hide it, to want an
23:54NDA, to not have truth and transparency.
23:58And so we are seeing NDAs demanded by abusers in exchange for compensation.
24:06And the way our legal system works is typically if a victim has a lawyer,
24:11that lawyer will usually be compensated on a contingency basis where they receive a portion
24:18of whatever financial recovery there is.
24:21So the lawyer has every incentive in the world to try to reach a deal,
24:26to try to reach a settlement, to have a financial amount paid, and to discount
24:32the harm of silencing their client.
24:38And so it's one of the real values of Trey's Law, is that when this
24:45passes, and I didn't say if, I said when, we will get this passed.
24:49Thank you. When this passes, that incentive will go away.
24:54Look, if you're negotiating a settlement, I used an example earlier today.
24:59There aren't settlement agreements that say as a condition of the settlement, you have to
25:05deal crack cocaine. Because dealing crack cocaine is illegal.
25:09And so you can't agree in a settlement to do something that is illegal.
25:13By taking NDAs off the table for forcing victims of child sex abuse to not
25:21be able to disclose what happened to them, that incentive for their lawyers to pressure
25:26them to do this will go away likewise.
25:29And importantly, we drafted Trey's Law so that a victim can still insist on an
25:35NDA for the abuser. If a victim decides, I don't want my story told, that's
25:39your right as well. We're not going to force a victim to tell his story
25:43or her story against their will.
25:45You're protecting the victim in the way you're writing this, which I think is such
25:48an important part of this conversation.
25:50I want people to understand that.
25:51It's a lot of what we talked about with we want to protect victims, for
25:54example, when we're exposing everything with Epstein files.
25:56It's the same mentality here.
25:58If you don't want your name out there, we want to protect it, right?
26:02That's the heart of Trey's Law, is giving survivors ownership of their own stories.
26:06Yes. So that they can decide what they want told about what happened to them.
26:10The trauma alone is enough abuse.
26:13We don't need to pile that on.
26:15And you bring up a good point, Senator, around the incentives and the incentives being
26:19misaligned because this type of case falls under personal injury law.
26:25And so you've been to law school.
26:28And in that area of the law, it's typically your attorneys who are taking auto
26:33accident cases or slip and falls.
26:36Child sexual abuse is a very incident.
26:39I like that it's a personal injury claim because it is an injury to the
26:43brain, to the soul. And so it should be a personal injury claim.
26:47But the way personal injury law works is that you are looking to settle.
26:52Keep this from going. I mean, over 96 % of cases, I think, settle outside
26:56of trial when it comes to personal injury.
26:59And so, you know, the victim doesn't want to have to go to trial and
27:03put themselves through more trauma.
27:05They're incentivized to settle. And a lawyer says this can all be behind you if
27:09you sign on the dotted line.
27:10And then they can take 40%, which is the typical commission on a case like
27:14this, move on to the next.
27:16Yeah. Thank you. and repeat.
27:17And that doesn't work when we're talking about childhood sexual abuse.
27:20Well, and the U .S.
27:21Supreme Court has described, they've said, other than murder, rape is the most grievous harm
27:28that could be inflicted to a person.
27:30And I've spent a lot of my career fighting against child sexual abuse.
27:36So when I was the Solicitor General of Texas, I argued in front of the
27:42U .S. Supreme Court defending Louisiana's law that provided for capital punishment, the death penalty
27:48for the most egregious child rapist.
27:51Unfortunately, the Supreme Court 5 -4 struck that down.
27:54So we did not prevail in that case.
27:57Texas's law was also struck down when Louisiana's law was struck down.
28:00I also defended Texas has a Texas sexually violent predator civil commitment law that gives
28:07the courts the ability to take a sexually violent predator and put them in civil
28:12commitment, take them off the streets to protect people.
28:15And a state court of appeals had struck that law down, had concluded it was
28:19unconstitutional. And I argued the case in front of the Texas Supreme Court defending that
28:25law. And we won unanimously.
28:27The law was reinstated and it's now a tool that you have to go after
28:30sexual predators. And, you know, we mentioned before, so this bill, my lead co -sponsor,
28:37is Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat from New York.
28:41And then we have on this bill as well, we have Katie Britt, Republican from
28:45Alabama, who's a dear friend.
28:47We have Eric Schmidt, Republican from Missouri, another very good friend.
28:51And then we also have Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota.
28:55We have Peter Welch, Democrat from Vermont.
28:58And then Gene Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire.
29:01And I think we will get very widespread bipartisan support.
29:06To be honest, those six are the only six I asked.
29:08I started with them. I've worked, all of them I've worked with on previous legislation.
29:14But, you know, I'll tell you, Gillibrand and I started working on this issue more
29:20than a decade ago because she was a leader in going after sexual assault in
29:25the military. And there's been a real problem with sexual assault in the military.
29:29And the way it used to work is the decision about whether to prosecute a
29:34rapist was made by the commander.
29:39And the commander frequently knew the violator, often was close to the violator.
29:45And victims of sexual assault in the military were afraid to report the rapes because
29:51they didn't believe the commander would be fair.
29:54They believed the commander would be biased in favor of the violator.
29:58And so Gillibrand, and this is back 2013, when I was a brand new baby
30:03senator, had just been elected.
30:06Kirsten was leading the charge saying, this doesn't make any sense.
30:09And the decision of whether to prosecute should not be made by the commanding officer,
30:14but rather should be made by a career military prosecutor.
30:19So in the military, but not in the chain of command.
30:22So not connected to the alleged violator.
30:27And I will tell you, the Pentagon fought tooth and nail.
30:31They hated that provision. And I was on the Senate Armed Services Committee with Kirsten
30:36at the time, and I heard her make the argument, make the argument passionately for
30:40changing the prosecuting decision to a career prosecutor.
30:46And it was one of those instances where sometimes you say hearings don't, you know,
30:50are kind of performance. They don't necessarily change anyone's mind.
30:54Well, I listened to her arguments, and I was persuaded.
30:56And I went up to her, and I said, Kirsten, I want to team up
30:58with you, and let's get this done.
31:00And we did. It took nearly a decade to get it done, because the, Barack
31:05Obama wouldn't do it, by the way.
31:07Obama was president. He could have done it unilaterally, and he wouldn't do it.
31:11And it took, we ultimately got the legislation passed, but it was a decade -long
31:15battle. This is one I'm confident will be faster.
31:19I don't think this will take a decade to make happen.
31:23You know, you mentioned at the press conference also that we had another victim of
31:28sexual abuse share her story.
31:30Her name is Jaden Harris.
31:32And I want to play what she said at the press conference, because this was
31:37really powerful and moving. She was sharing about the sexual violence she experienced.
31:45And give a listen. Give a watch.
31:48Good morning. First, I want to thank these co -sponsors for their leadership in filing
31:57Trey's Law at the federal level.
32:01My name is Jaden Harris.
32:03I'm 19 years old, and I'm here today not just as a child sexual abuse
32:08survivor from Branson, Missouri, but as someone whose voice was protected by Trey's Law.
32:13It's why I can be here today.
32:18When I came forward about the abuse I experienced, I was prepared for it to
32:23be difficult. What I wasn't prepared for was the intimidation not only from my abuser,
32:28but from my own lawyer to sign a non -disclosure agreement in exchange for restitution
32:35during a mediation process. I was alone when it came to fighting for my voice.
32:41It was both my abuser and my lawyer.
32:46That tried to require me to sign an NDA, a contractual clause that would have
32:52restricted my ability to speak about the details of what happened to me for the
32:56rest of my life. Imagine being told you can never tell your own truth.
33:02Despite the bullying from my attorney and all those involved in the case, in my
33:07heart I knew I had to stand for truth.
33:11Not just for myself, but for others who feel they have been silenced.
33:17I'm standing here today with my voice because Trey's Law protected it as a matter
33:22of public policy and I was able to achieve settlement while preserving my ability to
33:27speak out in hope of protecting others.
33:31Due to learning about Trey's Law in Missouri, I knew something important.
33:35I cannot be legally forced into silence.
33:38No agreement could take away my right to speak about my own experience and those
33:44responsible for the abuse. That legal right changed everything.
33:48It shifted the balance and power.
33:50It meant that any resolution would not come at the cost of me owning my
33:55story. Not only is having a voice essential to my healing journey, but it's also
34:01how I can warn others.
34:03My abuser is still out in public every day.
34:06He goes by the name Reza.
34:08He is a well -known entertainer in Branson who still has a magic show and
34:14I'm concerned about ongoing victimization.
34:19The criminal justice system has done nothing to remove him from being around children.
34:25So I'm going to do something.
34:27I'm speaking out today and I'm advocating the law that protected me to protect victims
34:34everywhere. Federal action on Trey's Law is critical.
34:41A survivor's freedom of speech should not depend on geography.
34:44I am fortunate that Trey's Law had passed in Missouri and allowed me to keep
34:48my voice. But someone's zip code should not determine whether they can tell the truth
34:53and warn the public about predators.
34:56This needs to be national.
35:00Trey's Law is straightforward but powerful.
35:02It makes non -disclosure agreements in cases of child sexual abuse void and unenforceable.
35:09It ensures that secrecy cannot be purchased when a child has been harmed.
35:14It affirms that survivors can be seen, heard, and believed.
35:18And that's in the best interest of public safety.
35:20What almost happened to me, signing away my voice, should never be an option in
35:26this country. I am grateful to be a part of today's important milestone in making
35:32that happen and setting truth free.
35:35Thank you. Senator, watching that, it's painful.
35:43It also is incredible to see someone like that get their voice because of this
35:49law. And that was enacted in her state.
35:52And that's exactly what you and are trying to do nationwide.
35:56And it's why I say this for everyone watching, please share this.
36:02You, there may be somebody that needs to know the website that with a connection
36:06with Canica. There may be someone else that needs to know this because they're in
36:09an NDA. This is why we do this show.
36:12And it's one of those episodes that I hope you'll put it everywhere on social
36:16media. Well, and look, there's something really powerful about a survivor taking ownership of their
36:26own story, of their own abuse, and sharing their story.
36:29It can be healing. It can be empowering.
36:33Look, when Jaden told her story, there was not a dry eye in the room.
36:38I mean, it was, you just heard it.
36:41And for those of you watching online, you saw it.
36:45And this is a 19 -year -old young woman who was baring her soul.
36:50And there's something powerful, A, for the survivor to move past the pain and grief.
36:58But it's also powerful because for every survivor that tells her story or his story,
37:05there are dozens or hundreds or even thousands of other victims who never told anybody.
37:12And one of the horrific things about this crime in particular, listen, if you're walking
37:19home at night and you get mugged and beaten up, you're not typically embarrassed or
37:24ashamed to admit I got mugged and beaten up.
37:27Someone stole my wallet. Sexual assault, and particularly sexual assault for kids.
37:35The guilt, the self -loathing, the fear, the persecution.
37:42The shame. So many victims are trapped in silence and never report their crimes.
37:54And so there is a power not just for the survivor but for everyone else
38:01who's been a victim who has not been able to own their truth.
38:10And, you know, I don't like it.
38:11Language like that, own their truth sounds a little new agey for me.
38:14It's not the way I normally speak.
38:17Survivors hold the truth. And here it is right.
38:22I don't think someone has their truth on whether 2 plus 2 is 4.
38:26Right. But your life and your experience, no one should take away, particularly from a
38:36child, the ability to tell your story.
38:40And I'll tell you, look, Trey's law would not have been a law in Missouri,
38:47Elizabeth, without your leadership. It would not have been a law in Texas.
38:51It would not have been a law.
38:52I mean, you have devoted a lot of time to fighting for this nationwide.
38:57Yeah, and I hope to get back to my day job eventually.
39:01I'm a mother of three.
39:03I've got other things to do.
39:04This is not something I want to carry.
39:07It's always encouraging when legislators like yourself step up and say, we're going to champion
39:13this on behalf of survivors so that Trey's outcome doesn't happen again.
39:19And I just want to comment on Jaden and what she did today.
39:22because that was heroic. It will inspire others to come forward.
39:28And as she stated in her testimony, she just doesn't want other people to continue
39:33to be victimized by her abuser.
39:35Today was the first time she named her abuser.
39:38Wow. And I am so honored.
39:42I didn't realize that when she said that.
39:44I assumed she had said it previously.
39:46I did not realize she had not.
39:48That's when a press conference becomes holy, sacred space.
39:54Because she was sharing the truth about a predator who's still out there.
39:59And I am amazed by her courage because she achieved settlement last year and she
40:08wanted this opportunity. It was healing for her as hard as it was to be
40:13able to stand on truth.
40:15And that's one of our slogans with the Trey's Law campaign is every voice of
40:19truth matters. Because I agree with you.
40:21I don't like this language around their truth.
40:25There is absolute truth. And Jaden stood on that today in her remarks.
40:32And we got to stand beside her.
40:34And that was so powerful.
40:36And like you said, not a dry eye in the room.
40:38Because if you're not personally affected by child sexual abuse, you sure know someone who
40:44will be or is or will come forward eventually about that.
40:47The numbers are staggering. Yeah.
40:50And we have studied this.
40:51It's only one in seven victims will ever come forward.
40:56And the delay disclosure issue I was bringing up earlier, especially with male victims, they
41:01often don't disclose until between the age of 50 and 70.
41:04And so it's important parents understand that.
41:06Because, again, I think they think if someone experiences this, that child's going to come
41:13home and tell mom and dad immediately.
41:15But to your point, it's not like an injury you would endure on the streets
41:21or in some sort of other accident.
41:24This does have an element of shame.
41:26And what Jaden did today is she put the shame back where it belongs.
41:29Yeah. On the person who abused her.
41:32It was never her fault.
41:33And let me say to anyone listening to this, if you've been a victim, it's
41:37not your fault. Yeah. And that's one of the lies these abusers try to convince
41:42children that it is your fault, that you invited this, that the blame is with
41:48you. And that is a total and complete lie.
41:51Yeah. And that's what grooming does and what grooming is, is it creates secrecy.
41:56If you ever tell anyone, I'm going to hurt your loved one.
42:01Or if you ever tell anyone, it's going to ruin everything.
42:03That is a grooming tactic to keep the victim quiet.
42:06And they often don't come out of that brainwashing for many, many years.
42:09So that's why research shows all of this around delayed disclosure.
42:13Sure. Jaden, she was able to move from victimization to survivor and now survivor advocate
42:20in a matter of months.
42:21And that's what we got to witness today.
42:24Thanks to you introducing Trey's Law federally, along with Senator Gillibrand and other co -sponsors.
42:29And I thought Senator Britt had some really poignant remarks as well.
42:31Yeah, she was fantastic. Oh, and it was very clear that the group you mentioned
42:37earlier, the ones you've asked so far, they are behind survivors.
42:40They want to protect survivors' voices.
42:42And that's what Trey's Law will do.
42:44And it does need to be national because going state by state creates an imbalance,
42:50protects the people in power, the predators, and the institutions that harbor these predators over
42:56a child having ownership of their story.
42:59And that's the core of our mission here.
43:02And thank you for taking time out of not a slow news day to make
43:06this a priority to hear from people like Jaden and others who spoke.
43:10This is important to happen.
43:11And to go to the really corrosive power of shame, last year, and we talked
43:17about this earlier today, a law that I authored and we passed into law was
43:22the Take It Down Act.
43:23And the Take It Down Act makes it a crime to post non -consensual intimate
43:29imagery, either real pictures and you see so -called revenge porn of explicit photographs or
43:37videos that a couple breaks up.
43:39And one decides, okay, I'm going to hurt my former lover and publicist.
43:46And no one has the right to make that public and to do that to
43:49someone else. But we've also seen with AI the rise of deepfakes.
43:54And this problem has increased more than 3 ,000 % in the last year.
44:00And more than 90 % of the victims are either women or teenage girls.
44:05And when we were pushing to pass it and building the coalition to pass it,
44:09one of the things we did, the first lady became very actively involved in this
44:13legislation. And I appreciated she – I hosted the first lady on Capitol Hill.
44:17And she was at a roundtable where she met with a number of the victims.
44:23And to give you a sense, there was one person who testified who is a
44:28state legislator in South Carolina whose son had received – was online.
44:37And he was a teenager.
44:39And he thought he was talking with a cute teenage girl.
44:45And the supposed cute teenage girl was flirting with him.
44:49And teenage boys – everyone can make foolish decisions.
44:54But teenage boys in particular, this cute girl convinced him to take revealing and naked
45:03pictures of himself and to send those pictures.
45:08And it turned out that the cute girl was not a cute girl but rather
45:12was a predator, a predator, a foreign predator, who then began blackmailing him and saying,
45:21I'm going to take this picture that you just took.
45:24You just took a naked picture of yourself and sent it to me.
45:27I'm going to send this picture to your family.
45:30I'm going to send it to your parents.
45:31I'm going to send it to your friends.
45:33I'm going to send it to everyone unless you give me money.
45:36It's extortion. And tragically, this teenage boy took his life.
45:41The entire exchange from the first interaction to when he took his own life was
45:4990 minutes. And his father shared that story.
45:53But that's the power of shame of this teenager who had taken a picture thinking
45:57he was flirting. And then the terror of if I get exposed for that, which,
46:03look, compared to being a victim of sexual assault, taking a picture of yourself is
46:10not nearly as severe. And yet that shame was so powerful that that that teenage
46:16boy took his own life.
46:18I mean, this is the pressures on our kids.
46:22They're enormous. And they face things that technology amplifies all of this.
46:28Yeah. Yeah, it's really an epidemic.
46:31Yeah. And as a mom of three, I know you have two girls.
46:37The threats are different than they were in our childhoods.
46:40Very different. Very different. We were playing Super Mario Kart.
46:44One in three kids will be propositioned sexually online.
46:47Yeah. One in three. And so, again, thank you for championing the Take It Down
46:52Act and your co -sponsors and the survivors.
46:55And sadly, the families victimized in that situation.
46:58The National Center on Missing and Explodied Children just put out a very powerful video
47:02on that issue in particular.
47:03And when I was the board chair of an anti -trafficking organization, the FBI put
47:07out their notice on sextortion.
47:09We had something come through a case around girls being trafficked on Venmo.
47:13So, it's sometimes often these apps parents aren't even thinking about.
47:19But Roblox, especially atrocious, so many examples of abuse happening on Discord.
47:27And then what they do is they take it live.
47:29So, in my brother's story, it was an institution that covered up abuse.
47:34Now it's these tech companies covering up abuse.
47:36And the bad actors are a step ahead of us.
47:40And the legislation can't continue to be reactive.
47:45What I think Trey's Law does is it removes that barrier because the shame is
47:49already inherent in the crime itself.
47:52And it removes that barrier so that victims come forward quicker.
47:55We can catch the bad guys faster.
47:57And the truth comes to light a lot sooner than when the power imbalance is
48:03in such a way that lawyers, even plaintiffs' attorneys, as we've discussed, or others are
48:10keeping that victim from speaking out.
48:12So, NDAs are one barrier.
48:14But the shame is real.
48:16And the gap in parental education is real.
48:19And that's why conversations like this really matter.
48:21Well, Elizabeth, thank you for taking your pain.
48:26I know you miss your brother.
48:29I know you feel the pain every day.
48:32But thank you for taking that and saying, I'm not just going to grieve.
48:37I'm not just going to weep.
48:39I'm going to use the pain to make a difference and help others.
48:43Because your courage matters. It has already changed the law in a number of states
48:48across the country. And it's going to change the law nationally.
48:51And your leadership is why this is happening.
48:54And so I just want to say thank you.
48:56It's a sacred honor. Final question I want to bring up real quick.
49:01One, will you give the website one more time for people that may have been
49:04affected at Kanakuk, the place where your brother was?
49:07And two, Senator, so this doesn't drag on for a decade to get it passed.
49:11What can verdict listeners do to help advocate for this and no matter who their
49:18senator is? So the whistleblower website on CannaCuck is factsaboutcannacuck .com.
49:25And then our website for Trey's Law is traeslaw .org.
49:29There's a community page for survivors who want to tell their story in a safe
49:33way until we get this legislation passed and they don't feel safe coming out fully.
49:37And their identity. We had a survivor testify in Missouri just a couple weeks ago
49:41and he said, for 25 years I've been a John Doe and today I'm coming
49:44forward in my full name because of Trey's Law passing in Texas.
49:47That's the power of Trey's Law in Texas.
49:50And, you know, we heard about Missouri today at the press conference and just replayed
49:54Jaden's remarks. So this needs to be national.
49:58The other way to support this effort is through the No More Victims Alliance.
50:02And that website is nmvalliance .org.
50:06And we have a lot of advocates and allies who want to help support this.
50:11And, Senator, I'm curious your thoughts as far as what are the most effective calls
50:15to action for people that want to jump in.
50:19So let me say one thing.
50:20The press conference we had, we had probably about 50 people who came.
50:25It was packed. Many of whom were themselves victims or they were the families of
50:30victims. And the emotions, the tears in the room, it was – I actually think
50:37that the TV cameras did not pick up on the folks that were there that
50:41were supporting what we were doing.
50:43But it was really powerful.
50:44Look, what can you do?
50:46One thing I would encourage you to do, share this podcast.
50:48Send this podcast to your friends.
50:51Send them the YouTube link.
50:53Send them the audio link.
50:55Encourage people to learn about Trey's Law.
50:59And then pick up the phone and make a phone call.
51:04Call your senator. Call your House member.
51:07And urge them to pass Trey's Law.
51:09Look, those phone calls, people wonder, do those phone calls matter?
51:13Do they make a difference?
51:14And I'll tell you, they do.
51:15I get a report every day, and I think this is true for most members
51:20of Congress. I get a report of how many calls we got and what the
51:24topics were, what the people were urging.
51:25And you notice if there's a surge on a topic, it makes a difference and
51:32it focuses the mind. And so speaking out, urging your elected representatives to support this
51:38law. We've got broad bipartisan support.
51:41We're going to get this done.
51:42And also speak out on social media.
51:46Put up a post on Facebook.
51:47Put up a post on X or True Social or Instagram or whatever platform you
51:53use. But speak out and advocate it because the more people hear about this, I
52:01think it is basic common sense.
52:03There is no reason – a child lacks the emotional maturity to make a decision
52:11to bind themselves by an NDA.
52:13And Trey's Law is going to say we're not going to allow children to be
52:17taken advantage of first when they're abused, but they're taken advantage of a second time
52:21when they are pressured into signing an NDA and muzzled for the rest of their
52:28life. And look, we can't necessarily stop every instance of abuse of kids in the
52:37first instance, although obviously we want to.
52:39But every predator we take off the street stops that predator for victimizing another child,
52:46another victim. But we can stop the second victimization.
52:50We can say we are not going to allow as a matter of law for
52:55children who have experienced this violence to be silenced.
52:58And that's what we're trying to do.
53:00And Elizabeth, that's what your leadership is producing.
53:02Well, and that's why we call this a public safety bill.
53:06And, you know, nothing will bring my brother back.
53:08And thank you for acknowledging that.
53:10Like, this is happening out of heartbreak.
53:12And I see it as, you know, grief can be love in action.
53:19So I'm taking action because of what my brother's life and death has taught me.
53:23So bigger picture, you know, encourage people to not let these hard -earned lessons die
53:31in vain. We won't let this be in vain.
53:33And thank you for taking action with me, with all the survivors in the room
53:37today who flew in from across the country.
53:39They'd been advocating in Georgia and Alabama and Missouri and Texas.
53:44And they showed up in that room and it was, yes, full of tears, but
53:47also full of hope. And there are some other bills right now that need support,
53:52like the Renewed Hope Act and the Defiance Act, which is a complement to the
53:56Take It Down Act. And so this Congress can achieve a lot to protect victims.
54:01And if people do call their elected legislators, then we can get this done.
54:08And I love hearing you say that over and over, that it's not an if,
54:12it's a when. Yes. And, you know, with this kind of thing, there's never a
54:17win. It is a lose -lose in my family's case.
54:21But we can, like you said, we can prevent this from happening.
54:25We can catch it sooner.
54:26And this era can end.
54:29Amen. Don't forget, we do this show three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
54:33And I ask you, if you...
54:34get to see this, please share the video, YouTube video on Facebook as well.
54:39You can share it on X and share this podcast.
54:43You can hit that little forward button and share it wherever you are on social
54:45media. Hopefully you can help others and victims come forward and understand what's happening with
54:50the laws and how they're changing.
54:51Also be an advocate. Talk to your senator and call their offices and let them
54:55know about this law. They may not know what's going on with it.
54:58Let them know why you're in favor of it and why they should get behind
55:01it so it doesn't take 10 years to get this passed.
55:04And the senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.
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