Tim Ballard files lawsuits against women accusing him of sexual assault

Timothy Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad and subject of the film Sound of Freedom, has filed lawsuits against seven women who are accusing him of sexual assault: Celeste Borys, Sashaleigha Hightower, Mary Hall, Kira Lynch, Krista Kacey, Bree Righter and Amy Morgan Davis. Specific accusations against Ballard include pretending to have sex with Borys in the shower, grinding, grabbing, kissing and licking. “It was obvious that he had an erection,” Mary Hall said at one point.

Ballard founded OUR, a nonprofit organization in 2013 after working for the Department of Homeland Security for eleven years and a short stint with the CIA in 2001. OUR’s mission is to end sex trafficking. The organization, according to its website, has headed over 4,000 predator arrests and has supported over 6,000 survivors and over 1,000 operations. 

Last July the box office hit Sound of Freedom, based on an operation led by Tim in 2014, was released by Angel Studios and brought a huge amount of awareness to the cause — both positive and, most recently, highly negative. 

OUR, like many issues in America today, has become a partisan issue. Ballard is (was?) a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is openly conservative, has nine children and has dipped his hand into politics. “Well-known personalities in Utah began calling for Mr. Ballard to run for the Senate seat that was to be vacated by Mitt Romney,” the lawsuit reads. You’ll likely see conservatives wearing the OUR brand, but Cockburn has yet to meet a liberal in the classic Underground Railroad T-shirt. Due to its work with trafficked children, some partisans opt to connect support for OUR to QAnon, which is, according to Britannica, a conspiracy theory asserting that former president Donald Trump “was waging a secret war against a cabal of satanic cannibalistic pedophiles.” 

Around the time Sound of Freedom was released, things became murky. Ballard resigned from his position as CEO of OUR on June 22, 2023, supposedly as a result of accusations of sexual misconduct, which Ballard denied. An actual lawsuit wasn’t filed until October 9, where five women said they were coerced into sexual acts after joining Ballard on his sting operations. Supposedly Ballard took advantage of this “couples ruse,” where he would hire certain women to act like they were romantically involved with him in order to trick sex traffickers before they busted them.

Amy Morgan Davis, who initially sued Ballard in 2023 under the pseudonym “MK” to hide her identity, released a victim statement and text messages between her and Ballard. Davis said after she had an initial “interview” (where she had to prove she could “turn [him] on enough”) Ballard texted her that she would have to be OK with the following scenarios: showering together, faking an orgasm, touching her underneath her swimsuit in a hot tub and purposely turning him on. 

“He began drinking regularly on OPS, justifying oral sex, nudity and bed sharing with each other,” Krista Kacey’s victim statement reads, “creating situations precarious enough that he could vehemently argue these actions were necessary to accomplish the mission and retrieve information that would make all the difference in saving countless lives.” There are pages and pages of claims like these, from all seven women. ​​Bree Righter’s claims Ballard has “obvious mental health problems,” that OUR “defrauded multi-million dollar donors” and that “they are not rescuing children.”

Ballard continues to deny the allegations. “Now, after having waited nearly a full year for any of the Defendants to withdraw their false claims against Mr. Ballard and come forward with the truth, Mr. Ballard reluctantly brings this suit.” He sources text messages and a video of Krista Kacey claiming nothing inappropriate happened, among other bits of evidence.

Ballard infers that the timing of these allegations is due to “wealthy and powerful people connected to this dark and evil underworld who do not want to be exposed.” He justifies his actions under the couple’s ruse. “One cannot convince a trafficker of genuineness without appearing to be sexually perverted,” the lawsuit reads. “One way to do so is, unfortunately, the traditional way: there are unethical operatives who have habitually engaged in sexual relations with traffickers, prostitutes and trafficking victims with the excuse that they are doing what has to be done to infiltrate the ring. Mr. Ballard has never been willing to engage in any sexual relations with anyone in the trafficking world, whether it be participants or victims.”