Reps. Roy Klopfenstein, Melanie Miller Testify on 'Trey's Law' in Committee

State Representatives Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) this week provided sponsor testimony on "Trey's Law" in the Ohio House Judiciary Committee. House Bill 723 strengthens protections for victims of sexual abuse and ensures perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes.

Trey's Law works to ensure that child victims of sexual abuse in Ohio cannot be silenced through nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements by making it clear that any agreement such as an employment contract, settlement agreement, or other arrangement that prohibits a person from speaking about sexual abuse is void and unenforceable. The sponsors underscored that nondisclosure agreements have increasingly become a standard tool used against survivors in sexual assault settlement cases.

"Survivors often rely on financial restitution to support a lifelong healing process, yet defendants frequently require silence about the abuse as a condition of settlement," said Rep. Klopfenstein during testimony. "This legal form of 'hush money' allows perpetrators and institutions to protect their reputations, conceal abuse, and silence survivors at the expense of accountability and healing."

Trey's Law is named after Trey Carlock, from Texas, who was a victim of child sexual abuse for over a decade at Kamp Kanakuk in Southwest Missouri. According to Treyslaw.org, after Kamp Kanakuk director and serial sex offender, Pete Newman, was sentenced to three life terms in 2010, Trey pursued justice to hold others involved accountable through civil litigation. That process ended with a restrictive settlement agreement, which included a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), barring Trey from ever speaking about his abuse and Kanakuk's role in it. Trey tragically died by suicide at the age of 28.

"Though Trey's story has a truly sad ending, our hope is that we can prevent this from happening in Ohio by enacting this important legislation," said Rep. Miller during testimony. "One in eight children in our country will experience some form of sexual abuse, and under no circumstances should an abuser be allowed to retraumatize a survivor by using a nondisclosure agreement to silence them and keep their story hidden."

Similar versions of this bill have been passed in Texas and Missouri in 2025 as well as Alabama in early 2026. Additionally, legislation like House Bill 723 has recently been filed in Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

To watch the sponsor testimony in committee, please click here.