A district attorney based in Salt Lake City is declining to file charges against the founder of an anti-child-trafficking organization – made famous by the 2023 movie Sound of Freedom – in the wake of sexual assault claims by several women in lawsuits.
Sim Gill, the district attorney, issued a statement Friday saying there is “insufficient admissible evidence”, and his office has declined to file charges against Tim Ballard in connection with the allegations.
“It does not mean that we disbelieve or diminish a survivor’s account, but rather that the law requires evidence strong enough to remove every reasonable doubt for a jury,” Gill said in the statement.
In two lawsuits, women have accused Ballard of exploiting his position as founder of Operation Underground Railroad and their desire to help combat child trafficking to abuse them.
One lawsuit has been dismissed with an appeal pending, and another is still active, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“Tim Ballard is innocent so the fact that there will be no charges makes absolute sense,” said Mark Eisenhut, an attorney for Ballard. “We hope the authorities will strongly consider charges against false accusers.”
Ballard resigned from Operation Underground Railroad amid the sexual assault allegations.
In October 2023, five Utah residents filed a lawsuit alleging Tim Ballard sexually assaulted and emotionally abused women employed to take part in his organization’s efforts to rescue victims of sex trafficking.
The lawsuit named Ballard; Operation Underground Railroad, the organization he headed until he stepped down in August over similar claims; and its board members as defendants.
“Defendant Ballard, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly, committed battery and sexual assault of Plaintiffs, as all sexual touching was done under the Couples Ruse in order to help save trafficked children and women,” the lawsuit alleged.
The complaint came after Vice News reported allegations of sexual and business malfeasance, and a rebuke by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that accused Ballard of trying to exploit his friendship with a senior church apostle for “personal advantage and activity regarded as morally unacceptable”.
According to the report, Ballard invited female staff and volunteers to accompany him on overseas missions playing the role of his wife, then would coerce them into sharing his bed or showering together by telling them it was necessary to fool traffickers.
One of the women Vice spoke to said she received photographs of Ballard in only his underwear, showing off a number of fake tattoos. Another woman was reportedly asked “how far she was willing to go” to save enslaved children.
Ballard, who investigated child sexual trafficking as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was portrayed in Sound of Freedom by the actor Jim Caviezel, whose own repetition of QAnon theories earned condemnation from the movie’s director, Alejandro Monteverde.
Despite being a surprise summer hit at the box office, Sound of Freedom was variously described as “QAnon adjacent” and “Maga-friendly” by critics, using the “Make America Great Again” slogan favored by supporters of Donald Trump.
Associated Press contributed to this report
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