Tim Ballard, whose real-life experiences saving kids from sex traffickers served as the inspiration for the film “Sound of Freedom,” has been sued by five women on charges of sexual violence and assault.
A month after it became known that Ballard had resigned from Operation Underground Railroad or O.U.R., the nonprofit child rescue organization he created, the lawsuit was submitted on Monday in the Third Judicial Court of Utah.
An outside company hired by O.U.R. was looking into Ballard for allegedly forcing at least seven women to behave like “wives” while on international missions—a charge he has disputed.
On Tuesday, it was impossible to immediately get in touch with former Homeland Security agent Ballard for comment. He brushed off accusations against him last month, calling them “false.”
In the lawsuit submitted on Monday, a lady going by the name “WW” said that she contacted Ballard over Instagram in April 2021 because she thought the man she was seeing might be a trafficker.
Ballard allegedly encouraged the woman to talk about her worries with him in person at his office in Lehi, Utah. Ballard apparently inquired about the lady’s willingness to go undercover during the call, to which the woman allegedly replied, “No,” but added that she would think about it. The suit claims that after being forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, the woman claims she was also advised not to discuss anything with anyone.
The lady claims that Ballard informed her of a strategy known as “Couples Ruse,” wherein ladies would accompany him on missions so that the traffickers would not suspect they were a part of a sting operation.
According to the lawsuit, despite Ballard’s claims that the “Couples Ruse” had stringent regulations prohibiting kissing and other sexually explicit physical contact, he allegedly utilized the event as a means of grooming the ladies.
According to the lawsuit, Ballard once told WW that she couldn’t trust a person who she credited with aiding her recovery from a prior sexual assault. The suit claims that WW trusted Ballard because she did.
In another incident, according to the lawsuit, Ballard reportedly touched the woman’s leg while they were in his office having a meeting to get her ready for a mission.
The lawsuit claims that WW tightened up right away but believed Ballard was testing her as well as she should continue speaking as if nothing were wrong. Ballard stroked her neck as WW continued speaking.
Ballard allegedly became “frustrated” and demanded to know why WW wasn’t responding to him, telling her that he wanted to know she was attracted to him, according to the lawsuit.
Ballard is charged with repeatedly groping WW during a mission in Mexico. The suit claims that each time, he urged that they “remain in character” and behave as though they were a “kinky couple” in order to make the sting seem plausible. The lady further claims that Ballard put her in perilous situations by sending her on missions at several massage parlors.
The woman claimed in the lawsuit that the mission caused her to experience nightmares and felt re-traumatized. She resisted accepting any new missions.
When “DM” informed WW that Ballard had reportedly “pushed her up against the wall & licked her stomach,” the lawsuit claims, WW knew what had happened was not a typical aspect of the assignment.
For sexual assault and battery, fraud, mental anguish, and conspiracy, WW, DM, and three other women sued Ballard. The list of defendants also includes O.U.R., its board, and its related businesses.
Ballard stated last month through his brand-new anti-trafficking charity, The Spear Fund, that the accusations were “baseless inventions meant to destroy myself and the movement we have created to end the trafficking & exploitation of vulnerable children.”
Ballard, a married father of nine children, continued by saying that he upheld rigorous rules while working at O.U.R.
He claimed, “Sexual contact was forbidden, and I led by example.” Any accusation of unwanted sexual interaction is completely incorrect, given our rigorous attention to this matter.
Ballard’s resignation on June 22 was earlier confirmed by O.U.R. to NBC News, but no explanation for it was provided. A request for comment on Tuesday went unanswered by the company right away.
The women’s attorneys claimed that after their clients complained to O.U.R., O.U.R. ignored them.
The lawyers claimed in a news release that as a result, Tim Ballard “was not exposed by O.U.R. for what he truly is — a sexual predator.”
The Jim Caviezel-starring biopic “Sound of Freedom,” which is based on the life of Ballard, surprised everyone at the box office this summer. Due to its depiction of Ballard valiantly dismantling child sex trafficking gangs, the film has a strong following among conservative and religious groups.
“The tragic irony is not forgotten on these five women: because Tim Ballard literally trafficked them in order to achieve his own sexual and egotistical gratification,” stated attorneys Suzette Rasmussen & Alan Mortensen.