Since October, multiple women have filed lawsuits accusing Tim Ballard—the anti-trafficking crusader who inspired the viral Sound of Freedom movie—of sexually assaulting them during his undercover “rescue” missions.
Ballard conducted these sting operations through Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R), the anti-trafficking group he founded in 2013. But a decade later, the married dad and activist left the organization after an employee reported him for sexual misconduct and the nonprofit’s board recommended his termination following an internal investigation.
O.U.R., which is a defendant in several Utah lawsuits, argues Ballard participated in only a fraction of its operations in the three years before his departure and that “his operations were not representative of the vast majority of O.U.R.’s work.”
Now O.U.R. has filed a countersuit against an accuser—who served as a former assistant to Ballard—and her husband, claiming that they defamed the nonprofit, which saw revenues of $29 million in 2022, and illegally accessed its computer systems for their lawsuit.
The former employee, Celeste Borys, and her husband, Michael, first sued Ballard and O.U.R. in October. In an amended complaint filed Dec. 6, Celeste claimed that O.U.R. left her to travel alone with Ballard on operations despite knowing of sexual abuse claims from another female operator on his missions.
“While we would have preferred to settle this matter amicably,” O.U.R said in a statement, “we have no choice but to defend the organization against Ms. and Mr. Borys’ attacks by setting the record straight.”
Celeste has also filed a police report against Ballard for sexual assault and, according to her lawsuit, provided a piece of her clothing that he’d ejaculated on.
Her attorney, Suzette Rasmussen, told the Salt Lake Tribune: “While OUR’s counterclaims were not unexpected, OUR’s re-traumatizing of victims is disappointingly consistent with its corporate culture.”
During a November press conference, Celeste and Michael joined other accusers who said Ballard groomed them under the guise of anti-trafficking quests.
“I wanted to help fight the bad guys,” Celeste said. “Instead, I became an easy target.”
O.U.R., Celeste’s suit alleges, enabled “a serial predator” through the use of NDAs and separation agreements, a tactic called the “Couples Ruse,” an undercover scheme Ballard allegedly used to prey on women, and by pitting accusers against each other.
Through the “Couples Ruse,” Ballard would recruit female volunteers to travel with him and pretend to be his romantic partner so that sex-traffickers wouldn’t become suspicious when he and other undercover operators didn’t touch victims.
Ballard enlisted women to “‘practice’ their sexual chemistry through tantric yoga, couple’s massages with escorts, and lap dancing on Ballard’s lap,” the lawsuit says.
Celeste’s complaint argues that as part of the ruse, “Ballard violently abused and assaulted” her in locations across the U.S. and abroad.
“Ballard frequently employed multiple grooming tactics with Plaintiff and other victims, including the claim that ‘this [his conduct] is all for the New Covenant;’ and that ‘these aren’t our real bodies. Jesus gave us our bodies to use like this,’” the lawsuit alleges.
According to Celeste, Ballard threatened to “put a bullet in his brain” if she ever left him and sent a Utah businessman and O.U.R. adviser to threaten her husband.
“Will you please just call me,” Ballard texted Celeste after she filed her complaint, the legal filing alleges. “U are like a sister to me. Why cut me off.”
Meanwhile, Celeste says that she was tasked with coordinating Ballard’s Sound of Freedom promotional tour schedule and maxed out her credit cards covering his travel expenses without ever getting reimbursed by Ballard or his new group, The SPEAR Fund.
O.U.R.’s countersuit alleges that the Celeste agreed not to file a lawsuit against or disparage the company as part of her severance agreement.
The legal filing also claims that Borys had defended Ballard throughout the internal O.U.R. probe, texting one accuser, “Keep in mind. As you explain your feelings, thoughts, and revelations to ANYONE. You leave just enough out for all to assume Tim’s ops are running wild with no moral intent behind them, which is so UNTRUE!”
“While Mr. Ballard was on leave, Ms. Borys was interviewed by the independent investigator in a confidential meeting relating to [another employee’s] allegations of sexual misconduct,” the countersuit alleges, adding that Borys repeatedly told colleagues that the accusations against Ballard were “fake news and evil.”
Around late August or early September, the countersuit continues, Borys recorded a podcast with Ballard “in which she voluntarily stated that on every operation where she was undercover for O.U.R, she felt safe” and “that her presence was vital because her job was to befriend women and children.”
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who is under fire over his friendship with Ballard, is also investigating sexual abuse claims against the activist.
In late November, a woman sued Reyes for allegedly trying to intimidate her after she publicly criticized O.U.R.’s claims about its rescue missions.
Suzanne Whitehead, who worked for a nonprofit collaborating with O.U.R., said O.U.R. falsely claimed to be working with trafficking victims in Nepal, took credit for other advocates’ work, and falsified a story about a victim in its newsletters and online posts.
After Whitehead took to social media, Ballard, O.U.R. representatives, and Reyes contacted the woman’s supervisor.
Reyes, in a statement, denied trying to intimidate Whitehead.
“As the complaint itself supports, the attorney general sent a single text and made a few phone calls seeking to find common ground between two NGOs,” the statement said, referring to non-governmental organizations. “He regrets if his communication was viewed in any other way and contributed to a feeling of undue pressure.”
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