Former Homeland Security Agent Tim Ballard was the inspiration for the hit movie free voiceAccording to Vice News, seven women were accused of sexual misconduct.
According to the outlet, Ballard founded the anti-child trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) in 2013 and invited women to serve as his “wives” in covert missions overseas to rescue trafficking victims.
Vice News reported, citing sources, that Ballard allegedly sent a woman a photo of himself in his underwear, while he is accused of asking another woman “how far she would go” to save a child.
Weekly newspaper Ballard was contacted through Angel Studios, the company behind free voiceand reached out to us for comment via email on Tuesday.
Published since July 4th free voice, a dramatized version of his endeavors, played by Jim Caviezel. Ballard now also appears to be considering a Senate run.
Fred Hayes/Getty Images for Angel Studios
Last week, Vice News reported that Ballard had fallen out of favor with prominent leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to a statement from the church, the relationship has been severed due to Ballard’s “morally unacceptable” behavior.
Ballard responded to the church’s accusations during a speech in Boston, Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate KSTU reported. “This is not true, everything you heard is not true,” he told the crowd. “This has devastated my family, you wouldn’t believe it.”
In response to the sexual misconduct allegations, a spokesperson for OUR told Vice News: “Tim Ballard resigned from OUR on June 22, 2023. He has permanently separated from OUROUR. OUROUR is committed to combating sexual abuse and will not tolerate any Sexual harassment or discrimination against people in their organizations.
“OUR has retained an independent law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all relevant allegations, and OUR continues to evaluate and improve the organization’s governance and its operating protocols.”
The statement continued: “To maintain the integrity of the investigation and protect the privacy of all involved, OUR will not be making any further public comment at this time.
“We are confident in our future as a leading organization dedicated to fighting sex trafficking and rescuing children who have been captured and sold into slavery.”
Since leaving OUR, Ballard has been listed as senior advisor for rescue operations at the SPEAR Foundation, a new anti-trafficking organization.
Weekly newspaper The SPEAR Fund has been contacted for comment via its website.
OUR was the subject of a 2020 Vice News investigation that accused the organization of obfuscating the truth about its mission. Reports at the time linked OUR’s success to the rise of QAnon conspiracy theorists.
The radical conspiracy theory group previously claimed that former President Donald Trump would expose a secret cabal of high-profile Satanic child abusers during his presidency and then order their arrests and executions. Both Caviezel and Ballard denied accusations that the film was an attempt to appeal to QAnon supporters.
Meanwhile, Ballard, who served on the White House Advisory Council on Anti-Human Trafficking from late 2019 to 2020 during Trump’s presidency, recently revealed that he was “very seriously considering” running against Mitt Romney Romney’s Utah Senate seat.
Chatting with Sean Spicer Sean Spicer ShowBallard said he was asked by “very influential people” “a few weeks ago” to consider running for the seat, which Romney recently said he would vacate at the end of his term.
Utah-based Ballard also said, free voiceAnd his subsequent fame made it nearly impossible for him to continue working undercover, making entering the Senate an attractive step.
