Following accusations of sexual abuse, five women formally filed a lawsuit against child sex trafficking fighter Tim Ballard for alleged “sexual misconduct” related to operational missions.
“Is there anything you wouldn’t do to save a child?”
Known for founding the rescue organization Operation Underground Railroad and for being the former Homeland Security special agent whose story inspired the film “Sound of Freedom,” recently surfaced allegations had led to a District Court lawsuit in Utah.
Naming Ballard, O.U.R. and related non-profits, corporations and individuals, the five unnamed plaintiffs outlined their claims centered around an operational program dubbed “The Couples Ruse.”
According to the suit, the defendant would select a woman to be trained to act as his wife or girlfriend while conducting a mission abroad aimed at snaring sex traffickers and rescuing victims. The purported role of the female companion, according to an investigation conducted by The Blaze, was to shield Ballard from having to engage in any sexual activity with prostitutes, strippers or children.
However, the legal filing alleged that under the pretense of establishing “chemistry” he “frequently asked women to ‘practice’ their COUPLES RUSE long before a mission ever took place,” which was said to include participation in “tantric massages,” “lap dancing on Ballard’s lap,” and frequenting strip clubs.
“At the strip clubs, Ballard would pay for and receive lap dances and ingest alcohol and pills at these practice ‘Ruse Ruses’ on OUR’s dime with donor monies,” the suit asserted. “Ballard engaged in a ploy where he would tell the women that if they were offered alcohol, which is forbidden by the Mormon Church (to which he is a member), that she should take the drink and then open mouth, kiss him and spit the alcohol into his mouth, and then he would spit it out when the traffickers were not looking.”
“However,” it went on, “Ballard was doing the exact opposite-he was consuming excessive amounts of alcohol (tequila) of his own volition, which he drank at strip clubs, massage parlors, and on trips, to the point of passing out. For example, he missed a $250,000 speaking engagement a few weeks ago because he was drunk and missed his flight.”
“Through these COUPLES RUSES, both in the office and in the field, Ballard eventually engaged in coerced sexual contact with several women and propositioned others,” the suit alleged.
According to the plaintiffs, Ballard maintained that it was necessary to keep up appearances of being a couple even while in private accommodations in case they were being spied on. This included claims of their sleeping in the same bed, assuming the position of sexual intercourse without penetration, invitations to shower with him and coercion into several sexual acts.
“Is there anything you wouldn’t do to save a child?” he was said to have asked the women who he allegedly also demanded obtain a Brazilian wax.
He was also alleged to have told the plaintiffs “that engaging in sex play with him would improve their marriage, even as he told them not to tell their husbands about what they were doing (or it would compromise the mission, children, their lives, and other informants’ lives).
An image of Ballard sleeping in a state of undress circulated where tattoos were displayed that the former special agent verified during a Sept. 29 appearance on “The Adam Carolla Show” was him.
TB has a habit of sending semi nude images to the women he has groomed for sex or sexual acts. There is no allegations it’s all true that will slowly all come out. TB is desperate right now trying to debunk truths of his predatory nature that he’s doing any interview possible. pic.twitter.com/9jBkHa8ezc
— Tim Ballard Exposed (@tim_exposed) September 28, 2023
By his account, the tattoos were henna and were applied to prepare for a mission and that the image was taken by the artist as a frame of reference if they ever needed to be reapplied. However, as The Blaze investigation indicated, “It is unclear why tattoos in the groin region or on an upper thigh would have been necessary for rescue missions, since they were unlikely to be seen, and a source familiar with O.U.R. operations denied that having henna tattoos applied was a normal component of O.U.R. undercover work.”
Since the allegations surfaced, around the same time that rumors of a potential run to replace Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R) began to circulate, Ballard has adamantly denied physical contact outside of “hand holding, arms around shoulders, stuff like that.”
The Blaze reported that, “He also alleged that some female operatives wanted to kiss him during a mission to put on a more convincing performance, but he always refused. ‘There’s no reason to do it. It’s not appropriate,’ he claimed he would tell them.”
Ballard’s wife, with whom they share nine children (two adopted after a rescue mission), told The Blaze, “The couples ruse was created to protect his relationship with me…It was a way to stay virtuous.”
The suit further alleged that the alleged misconduct, said to have resulted in two divorces, led to his resignation as CEO of O.U.R., which had conducted an internal investigation prior to his May departure. Meanwhile, Ballard maintained that his departure was to avoid any perceived “conflict of interest” ahead of the release of “Sound of Freedom.”
BlazeTV host Glenn Beck, named in the suit for adding to “Ballard’s credibility” through his significant donations to O.U.R., released his own statement on the allegations that read, “I find the allegations against Tim Ballard deeply troubling. I can only hope that truth prevails, justice is served, and all involved will use the free gift of Christ and repent, turn to him, correct their errors, and let the atonement of Jesus Christ work miracles in their lives.”
“It is the only thing that can repair brokenness. My intentions, and those of the thousands in my audience who have generously contributed to O.U.R., were to help save God’s children from the scourge of human trafficking,” continued Beck. “May the Lord heal this mess so that this important work can continue.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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