With time running out for an abuse prevention bill to be enacted in Texas, abuse survivors and advocates spoke out today in a committee hearing at the Texas State Capitol.

Cindy Clemishire, the woman whose testimony of childhood sex abuse prompted the resignation of megachurch pastor Robert Morris, gave an impassioned plea to Texas lawmakers in Austin. The bill under consideration would prohibit non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) involving child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault. 

“The only way to have a chance at ending child sexual abuse is to tell the truth, to speak it, to share it, and to expose it,” said Clemishire, 55, who lives in Oklahoma. “When NDAs are used to silence victims, we are not protecting families. We are protecting the people destroying them.” 

Clemishire spoke before the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs, which is considering the state ban on sexual abuse NDAs. The bill is titled “Trey’s Law,” in memory of Trey Carlock, a victim of abuse who took his own life in 2019.

On April 8, the Texas House unanimously passed HB 748, its version of Trey’s Law, as The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported. A Senate version of the bill, introduced March 10, is almost identical to the House bill, except it pertains only to child victims rather than adults.

Last June, Morris resigned from Gateway Church, after Clemishire came forward with her account of Morris’ repeated sexual abuse of her as a minor. 

The former pastor has since been indicted in Oklahoma on five counts of child sex abuse-related charges. Morris is scheduled to appear at an Oklahoma court hearing on Friday May 9. 

As of 6:30 p.m. Central, the committee reconvened and discussion continued on Trey’s Law. However, both versions of the bill were left pending at 8 p.m. and neither has yet been forwarded to the full Texas Senate for a vote of all members.

Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, sister of the late Trey Carlock, testified to the committee, praising the recent unanimous vote of the Texas House in support of Trey’s Law. 

“That vote and message of overwhelming support honors the tragic loss of my late brother and the countless survivors of child sexual abuse like him,” said Phillips. “NDAs have protected powerful people and institutions for a long time . . . Texas can be a leader on this.”

Advocates await a vote of the full Texas Senate on Trey’s Law to be scheduled, before the state’s legislative term ends on June 2.  

‘Christian culture’ protected camp predator

Multiple witnesses recounted how evangelical ministries seemingly gave free rein to abusers.

Phillips’ brother, Trey, attended Christian summer camp Kanakuk, based in southwest Missouri. “He was groomed and abused from age 7 to 17 by a serial sex offender,” she said. 

His abuser, Pete Newman, a camp counselor, was sentenced to three life terms in 2010, on charges of sexual abuse against 57 victims. Yet her brother never spoke publicly about the abuse because he signed a restrictive NDA demanded by Kanakuk for a settlement.

Phillips choked back tears in discussing the lead-up to her brother taking his life. 

“He was just trying to finish college and process unimaginable trauma, amidst a Christian culture applauding Kanakuk and hailing its CEO Joe White as a spiritual hero,” she said. 

According to the group Facts About Kanakuk, hundreds of abuse allegations have come forward from former Kanakuk campers and staff, with reports identifying 68 unique perpetrators.

Phillips added: “I’m trying to be a voice for Trey and countless other victims of sexual abuse and trafficking, who are suffering in the shadows due to NDAs. If they could be here to testify without the threat of legal repercussions, there would be a line out the door.” 

College ministry gives platform to registered sex offender

Similarly, Joseph Cleveland of Huntsville, in south-central Texas, recounted his story of abuse at the hands of itinerant youth minister Daniel Savala, whose ministry has been linked to the Assemblies of God (AOG). 

“In 2004, at the age of 15, I was introduced to a man who was a pedophile,” sad Cleveland. “This man had begun grooming me and would eventually begin molesting me.” 

Following college, Cleveland left the abuser’s orbit of control but remained connected to an AOG church. “I was one of the first victims to come publicly forward in 2023,” he said. 

Cleveland’s focus shifted to ridding the AOG of Savala’s influence, but he said he and other whistleblowers have been stonewalled. He said AOG leadership “knew that this man was a registered sex offender, (but) did not take the needed steps to rid our ministries of him.” 

“NDAs were used to insulate the organizational leadership, to cover themselves, to hide behind (a) fog of ignorance. Because of this, justice has not been served in a lot of cases,” he said. 

Today, more than 40 men, previously part of AOG-affiliated Chi Alpha ministries on six college campuses, have alleged that Savala abused them. 

Yet national AOG leaders remain indifferent. “The superintendent of the Assemblies of God described it as a ‘hiccup’ and ‘a local event,’” said Cleveland.

Meanwhile, regional AOG leaders Tim Barker (over South Texas) and Gaylan Claunch (over North and Central Texas) – who had been tasked with investigating the extent of Savala’s abuses – remain in their leadership positions. 

Savala was jailed in June 2023, with his criminal case expected to go to trial this summer. 

Clemishire alleges Morris guilty of ‘rape’ under Oklahoma law

Recounting her story today, Clemishire shared some details not previously disclosed. 

She alleged that Morris, then a traveling evangelist, violated her while staying overnight at her family’s home in 1982. Clemishire was 12 years-old, “a vulnerable child . . . wearing my favorite pink pajamas with bloomers,” she said. 

Clemishire continued: “He touched me in a way that, under Oklahoma law, is classified as rape by instrumentation. The word ‘rape’ often brings to mind brutality. But these predators are calculated . . . The abuse is often subtle and gentle–not to protect the child, but to keep the child confused and quiet.” 

She also revealed why the issue of NDAs pertains to her story. In 2007, her attorney, Gentner Drummond—today the Oklahoma attorney general —approached Morris to cover the cost of her past and future counseling, proposing a $50,000 settlement.

“(Morris’) attorney responded not with compassion, but with a letter accusing me, a 12- year-old child at the time, of pursuing him,” said Clemishire. Morris offered Clemishire $25,000 to cover the costs, but only if she’d sign an NDA, which she refused.

She added: “There was no way I would ever sign something stating I could never speak about my own life. Had I agreed to that NDA, Robert would have continued to have power over me.” 

Phillips, who has spearheaded a national effort to pass Trey’s Law in multiple states, called the bill “an urgent matter of public safety.” A Missouri version of Trey’s Law recently passed the General Assembly and awaits the signature of Gov. Mike Kehoe to be enacted. 

Regarding the Texas bill, she called for a Texas Senate vote to be scheduled “promptly – so we have a chance to get this to the governor’s desk by deadline this session.” 

If the law is not passed by June 2, the final day on the legislative calendar, state lawmakers in Texas are not scheduled to reconvene until January 12, 2027, as the legislature meets every other year. 

This story has been updated to reflect the current status of the legislation.

Josh Shepherd is production editor at The Roys Report and a journalist who writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in central Florida.