Sound of Freedom: “Stomach-churning” allegations against movie’s hero emerge

Tim Ballard, the anti-child sex trafficking activist who inspired the hit movie Sound of Freedom, is being sued as “stomach-churning” allegations against him emerge. 

Sound of Freedom has been the subject of multiple controversies since dropping in July, from lead star Jim Caviezel’s links to QAnon, to claims of Disney purposely shelving the project and anti-Christian bias, allegations of cinemas sabotaging screenings, and a funder’s arrest for child kidnapping.

However, arguably the most questions raised have been related to Tim Ballard, the man whose story inspired the movie. Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a nonprofit organization focused on rescuing children from sex trafficking rings. But an investigation led by Vice World News and published in 2020 indicated a “divide between the group’s actual practices and some of its claimed successes.” 

Then, earlier this year, Ballard resigned from OUR. Although plenty of questions were left unanswered, sources told Vice last month that the resignation came following an “investigation into claims of sexual misconduct involving seven women” who were OUR employees. And now more details have come to light. Warning: Some may find this content distressing.

“Stomach-churning” allegations against Sound of Freedom’s Tim Ballard emerge

On Monday, October 9, a lawsuit was filed in which five anonymous women accused Tim Ballard of sexual assault, with Slate describing the details of the accusations as “stomach-churning.”

Although Ballard previously explained that he and other operatives employed a “couples ruse” whereby they had women posing as wives or girlfriends for undercover missions, the lawsuit accuses him of using these tactics as “a tool for sexual grooming.”

Among the many claims in the filing is that Ballard would “often share a bed with a woman posing as his girlfriend or invite her to shower in his bathroom, even though accommodations at designated ‘safe houses’ provided separate bedrooms and bathrooms.”

The women, who are all members of the Mormon Church, also allege in the lawsuit that Ballard would make sure he and his female counterparts had physical ‘chemistry’ before an operation, encouraging them to take part in tantric massages before and while on a couples ruse. 

He would also allegedly ask women to ‘practice’ the ruse before the mission took place, through tantric yoga, massages with “escorts,” and lap dancing on him. 

Ballard is accused of using OUR’s and donor’s funds to pay for lap dances at strip clubs in Salt Lake Valley, as well as ingesting alcohol and pills – which is forbidden by the church. 

The suit also claims that he would engage in a ploy where he would tell the women that if they were offered alcohol, they should take the drink, open their mouth, kiss him, spit the alcohol into his mouth, and then he would spit it out when traffickers weren’t looking. 

Ballard is alleged to have two rules for the couples ruse: no kissing on the lips and no touching or exposing genitals. Eventually, however, it states that he “engaged in coerced sexual contact with several women and propositioned others,” with the exception of actual penetration. 

He would reportedly ask each woman: “Is there anything you wouldn’t do to save a child?” Ballard would reportedly “warn these women that if they failed in their couples ruse mission, they would have wasted the hard-earned money that honest donors had entrusted to OUR to be caught or killed by the cartel.”

Alongside the sexual misconduct, Ballard allegedly would get “ketamine treatments” and “have a scribe come in with him while he would talk to the dead prophet Nephi and issue forth prophecies about Ballard’s greatness and future as a United States Senator, President of the United States, and ultimately the Mormon Prophet, to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ.”

There are many more claims detailed in the lengthy lawsuit, which you can read in full here. 

On Tuesday, Ballard responded to the allegations in a statement to Deseret News, which reads: “Mr Ballard vehemently denies the allegations brought by these unnamed women. He looks forward to vindicating his name in the courts where evidence, and not unsubstantiated accusations in the media, decides the outcome.”

A second lawsuit was filed from a sixth woman and her husband on Wednesday, once again accusing Ballard of sexual assault and grooming – behavior they claim led to the couple’s separation.

The husband, known as FT, said in the filing: “Tim has taken everything from me. He has purposefully destroyed my marriage, manipulated my wife, ruined the relationship with my kids and with my wife’s family.”

You can read more about Tim Ballard and Sound of Freedom in the links below: 

• Tim Ballard resigns after sexual harassment allegations
• Sound of Freedom controversy explained
• Who is Jim Caviezel?
• Sound of Freedom box office
• Why did Disney shelve Sound of Freedom?
• Is Sound of Freedom not being promoted?
• Studio rejects claims of sabotaged screenings
• Sound of Freedom funder charged with child kidnapping
• Sound of Freedom studio shuts down claims of astroturfing