Tim Ballard, whose tales of going undercover to rescue children from international sex traffickers inspired the box office hit “Sound of Freedom,” has been accused of sexually assaulting five women who joined him on his sting operations.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in Utah, the women alleged that Ballard would “manipulate” them and coerce them into sexual acts as part of his trafficking rescue missions via Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), the nonprofit he founded.
KSL, a Salt Lake City TV station, first reported that a lawsuit had been filed Oct. 9, weeks after reports started circulating that Ballard left OUR this summer over sexual misconduct allegations.
The allegations center on Ballard’s sting operations to purportedly rescue trafficked women and children outside the United States, missions referred to in the lawsuit as “OPS.” According to the filing, Ballard began using a tactic called the “couples ruse,” in which he and a female partner would go undercover as a married couple to try to ensnare traffickers.
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At first, Ballard, a Mormon, imposed a strict set of rules for the sting operations, including “no kissing on the lips and no touching or exposing of private parts,” the suit claims. Most of the plaintiffs were or are Mormons themselves, the lawsuit notes.
But, the complaint states, Ballard began abusing the couples tactic, eventually using “spiritual manipulation to coerce them into sexual contact.”
The suit claims that the organization and its board members were aware of Ballard’s conduct and that the program was “adopted and accepted” by the organization as “standard policy and procedure.” Reports from the plaintiffs about Ballard’s misconduct were ignored or silenced, the filing alleges.
OUR and its board, who were also named as defendants in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the nonprofit “categorically denies the allegations as they relate to OUR.”
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The organization added that the suit’s descriptions of the board’s “intentions and actions” are “entirely misguided and speculative.” The Spear Fund, also named in the lawsuit and for which Ballard now serves as a senior adviser, did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit lays out in detail how use of the “couples ruse” allegedly escalated.
Ballard would insist that he and his female counterpart had “physical chemistry” to better sell the ruse, flying them across the country to “practice” their sexual chemistry through “tantric yoga, couples massages with escorts, and lap dancing,” according to the suit.
Share this articleShareThe lawsuit also alleges that Ballard “engaged in a ploy where he would tell the women that if they were offered alcohol, which is forbidden by the Mormon church, that she should take the drink and then open mouth, kiss him and spit the alcohol in his mouth, and then he would spit it out when the traffickers weren’t looking.”
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Ballard encouraged the women to share the same bed and shower with him on his missions, and eventually began coercing sex acts from them, the suit claims. These acts would take place in private accommodations, according to the lawsuit, because Ballard would claim that he and his partner “had to maintain the appearance of a romantic relationship at all times in case suspicious traffickers might be surveilling them.”
Ballard is also alleged to have told the women that engaging in sex play with him would improve their own marriages, while also advising that they not tell their husbands about these acts, lest it compromise their mission.
The lawsuit claims Ballard would ask each woman: “Is there anything you wouldn’t do to save a child?”
Ballard defended the ruse tactic in an Instagram post in September, after Vice News reported, based on anonymous sources, that Ballard had exited OUR over sexual misconduct allegations. The former OUR leader said the couples ruse was a “proactive technique” to catch child traffickers, allowing an undercover male operative to use his female partner to explain why he couldn’t participate in sex acts, while still maintaining communication with the alleged traffickers.
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“Hundreds, maybe thousands, of children have been rescued using this amazing tactic,” Ballard claimed.
Celebrated in the Mormon community for his missions, Ballard gained greater prominence this year after the box office success of “Sound of Freedom,” a fictionalized account of Ballard’s work combating child sex trafficking. But people associated with Ballard’s organization, the film and its distributor, Angel Studios, have faced increased scrutiny and damaging allegations in the months since the movie’s release.
After Ballard was accused of sexual misconduct in September, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condemned what it called his “morally unacceptable” behavior. Shortly after, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) addressed the developments in a news conference, calling the accusations against Ballard “incredibly disturbing” and “unconscionable” if true. Ballard has reportedly been seeking a U.S. Senate run to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
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According to OUR, Ballard resigned from the organization on June 22, roughly two weeks before “Sound of Freedom” hit theaters.
Suzette Rasmussen, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement that additional victims are expected to come forward with their own lawsuits.
“The tragic irony is not lost” on the plaintiffs, Rasmussen wrote. “Tim Ballard literally trafficked them for his own sexual and egotistical gratification, all while using the noble causes of fighting trafficking and serving God as his ‘Ruse.’”
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