‘Sound of Freedom’ Hero Resigned From Own Organization Over Shocking Sexual Misconduct Allegations: Report
Fox 13 Salt Lake City on Instagram
While Tim Ballard was championing his non-profit Operation Underground Railroad for its achievements and progress in battling child sex-trafficking, he was allegedly sexually abusing women and making them prove how far they were “willing to go” in the name of the cause.
A new report by Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman of VICE News outlines the investigation, which took place not long before Ballard resigned from O.U.R. in June. According to the article, seven women made claims of sexual misconduct by Ballard, including him convincing women working with him on behalf of O.U.R. to pose as his wife. But that act would extend into private situations and include “sharing a bed or showering together, claiming that it was necessary to fool traffickers,” according to Merlan and Marchman. He also sent at least one woman “a photo of himself in his underwear, festooned with fake tattoos, and to have asked another ‘how far she was willing to go,’ in the words of a source, to save children.”
O.U.R. provided a statement about the investigation to VICE:
Tim Ballard resigned from O.U.R. on June 22, 2023. He has permanently separated from O.U.R.
O.U.R. is dedicated to combatting sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organization.
O.U.R. retained an independent law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation of all relevant allegations, and O.U.R. continues to assess and improve the governance of the organization and protocols for its operations.
To preserve the integrity of its investigation and to protect the privacy of all persons involved, O.U.R. will not make any further public comment at this time.
O.U.R. is confident in its future as the leading organization committed to combatting sex trafficking and saving children who have been captured and sold into slavery.
Ballard became more of a known quantity after the release of the movie Sound of Freedom, a dramatization of his mission in which he was played by actor Jim Caviezel. Critics of the film have argued that Ballard’s claims about his accomplishments have been “dramatically overstated or without clear documentary evidence.”
Local press in Salt Lake City, Utah has been covering Ballard and his dubious record as well as what led to his exit from his own organization, and Fox 13 in Salt Lake City posted a video on their Instagram account of Ballard walking out of an interview when he was questioned about “an investigation into his organization”:
View this post on Instagram
Ballard is facing other accusations of dishonesty; he also seemingly fabricated a relationship with an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, President M. Russell Ballard, which earned him a rebuke from the Church that called his behavior “morally unacceptable.” Ballard spoke to a small crowd that was caught on camera denying that the rebuke from the church never happened.
He’s also apparently mulling a run for U.S. Senate to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), but there’s plenty of room in Congress for people with a truth problem.
