Five women sued the founder of an anti-child-trafficking group that inspired a hit movie this year on Monday, alleging he sexually manipulated, abused and harassed them on overseas trips designed to lure and capture child sex traffickers.
Tim Ballard’s life story and work with Operation Underground Railroad inspired Sound of Freedom, a 2023 film popular with conservative moviegoers.
He recently resigned from the group amid sexual abuse and harassment allegations, which he denied.
The charges against Ballard center on a “couple’s prank” he allegedly engaged in with Operation Underground Railroad women he persuaded to pose as his wife to fool child sex traffickers into thinking he was a legitimate client , according to the lawsuit filed in Utah state court. .
The ruse began with Ballard and women in the organization taking country trips to “practice” their “sexual chemistry” with tantric yoga, couples massages with chaperones and performing lap dances on Ballard, the lawsuit alleges.
A lawsuit alleges well-known child-trafficking opponent Tim Ballard sexually abused five women and then forced them to pose as his wives.
Ballard allegedly sent at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear and asked another ‘how far she was willing to go’ to save children, according to one source
While promotional material depicted the group’s overseas missions as ‘paramilitary drop-ins to arrest traffickers and rescue children’, they mostly involved ‘going to strip clubs and massage parlors around the world, having flown first class to get there’ , and at five-star hotels, on boats and at VRBOs around the world,’ the lawsuit claims.
Several women, meanwhile, ended up being subjected to “forced sexual contact,” including “various sexual acts with the exception of actual penetration, in various states of undress,” the lawsuit alleges.
Even privately: ‘Ballard would claim that he and his female partner had to maintain the appearance of a romantic relationship at all times in case suspicious traffickers might be watching them at any moment.’
The 47-year-old is alleged to have pressured the women into sharing a bed with him or sleeping together, telling them it was to convince traffickers that they were married, even though the accommodation was always at designated ‘safe houses’ which provided separate bedrooms. and bathrooms.
It accuses Ballard of forcing the women to practice their romantic interactions through massages, escorting and lap dances — all funded by the group.
Ballard reportedly sent at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear, covered in fake tattoos, and asked another “how far she was willing to go” to save children, according to one source.
The lawsuit also states that two marriages ended because of Ballard’s actions, with him offering to cover one victim’s divorce attorney fees.
Ballard would claim to the women on operations with him that if his wife died, he would marry them immediately.
Ballard would insist that the women keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters with him because if they told anyone, it would put everyone’s lives at risk on the secret mission saying it was necessary to save the trafficked children.
The women said Ballard would also quote scripture to the women, using a passage of scripture where a prophet is told by the Holy Spirit to kill a man, claiming that the Holy Spirit would sometimes ask people to do “unconventional” things. perform tasks.
According to the lawsuit, it wasn’t until the spring of 2023 that some of the women came forward to ONS management, leading to Ballard’s termination.
In a video posted on Instagramhe appeared to admit that some of his missions did involve working with fake wives, but he claimed it was a legal tactic known as the ‘couple scam’ deployed to fool traders.
He claimed it allowed male agents to turn down offers of underage sex from traffickers by claiming their wives would disapprove, while maintaining credibility.
The women, who filed the lawsuit under pseudonyms, claim Ballard used his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and connection to church leaders to persuade them what he did was only for the benefit of children who needed help. need
A screenshot of the Mormon church’s internal database shows that Tim Ballard’s does not appear on a family directory, with his wife, Katherine, listed as ‘Head of Household’ instead. His children’s names have been redacted to protect their anonymity
Ballard said that church president M. Russell Ballard, no relative, had given him special permission to use married couples “as long as there was no sexual intercourse or kissing.”
In a September statement, the church condemned Tim Ballard for “unauthorized use” of the church president’s name for personal gain and “activity deemed morally objectionable,” without saying what the activity was.
But it appears the church has now completely cut ties with the married father-of-nine, with a search of its internal database failing to turn up his records.
It follows reports that a church disciplinary council was held on September 27 before Ballard received a letter informing him of his excommunication two days later.
The church has not confirmed this and Ballard’s wife, Katherine, said the couple had been ‘in touch’ with their local church leaders but that ‘such discussions – as required by the church – are strictly confidential and extremely personal’.
Ballard’s wife, Katherine, stood by her husband in the wake of the allegations against him. The couple is pictured in August
Tim Ballard claimed his anti-trafficking activities were blessed by Mormon church Elder M. Russell Ballard as a way to convert more Americans to the Utah-based faith, according to a since-closed FBI investigation. The church denies that Elder Ballard did this
Sources told DailyMail.com that the Mormon church is trying to protect its own legal position by distancing itself from Ballard, but its preliminary public stance suggests it fears alienating its base, many of whom are fiercely loyal to Ballard and his work. .
Excommunication would be a dizzying fall from grace for Ballard, who recently floated a run for the Senate.
Tim Ballard claimed that a passage in the Book of Mormon justified the performance of “unconventional” tasks, the lawsuit alleges.
‘Ballard would receive ketamine treatments and have a scribe come in with him as he would speak to the dead prophet Nephi and issue prophecies about Ballard’s greatness and future as a US Senator, President of the United States and eventually the Mormon prophet to usher in the second coming of Christ,’ the lawsuit states.
Just last month, Ballard said he was “seriously” considering a run for the Utah Senate following the success of Sound of Freedom, a movie based on his anti-trafficking exploits.
Days before the church condemned Ballard, Mitt Romney announced he would not seek a second term representing Utah in the U.S. Senate.
Ballard, who has said he is considering a run for the Senate, has blamed political opponents for the recent sex allegations against him.
Days after Ballard presented his candidacy, Vice News reports that seven women who worked with OUR made sexual misconduct claims against him.
Ballard’s prominence as an opponent of child sex trafficking earned him an invitation to the White House under President Donald Trump.
Ballard, who was previously a special adviser to Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, was appointed to a White House anti-trafficking council in 2019.