Tim Ballard, the real-life subject behind the 2023 box-office smash Sound of Freedom, has been sued by six women who allege he sexually assaulted them.
Ballard built the anti-child sex trafficking nonprofit Operation Underground Railroadbefore stepping away amid initial accusations of wrongdoing following the release of the $184 million indie film.
Several of Ballard’s alleged victims spoke with The New York Times about their lawsuits and allegations, including former Miss Utah Amy Morgan Davis.
At the time the alleged assault took place, Davis worked as Ballard’s makeup artist and she claims he manipulated her desire to help him rescue children — a tactic he reportedly used to assault his victims after recruiting them to pose as his romantic partners to help rescue the children.
Davis alleged in the lawsuit that Ballard repeatedly told her to prove that the two of them had a “connection” and then made sexual advances at her, including touching her body with his hands, according to the publication.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around that because you really, in your mind, want him to be the hero,” she told the Times.
Like Davis, many of the women accused Ballard in lawsuits and interviews of talking graphically about sexual scenarios they might encounter after achieving a woman’s interest in helping, per the Times.
The publication noted that when the women felt uncomfortable keeping up with the fake romance in his office, hotel room or car, he allegedly argued that sex traffickers could be monitoring their every move.
Mary Hall alleged to The New York Times and in court documents that Ballard groped her kissed her stomach and pulled at her pants waistline in his office before being interrupted by an executive. After sharing her concerns with others in the organization, she asserts she was not invited on the mission.
Another woman, Celeste Borys has sued Ballard and the Operation Underground Railroad on claims of battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress amid other claims, the Timesreported.
Borys had been working at the organization when he told her that he wanted to expand her role, the Times reported. He allegedly invited her to an introductory mission in Ecuador in 2022 and surprised her with a couple’s massage in a hotel room.
She told the Times that Ballard got naked and laid on the bed after two girls, who Borys said looked underage, entered the room. Instead of helping the girls, Ballard began talking about masturbation, she said in her lawsuit.
One of the girls reportedly offered to demonstrate on Borys. Ballard then rolled the woman on her back and began to remove her shorts, according to the lawsuit, as reported by the New York Times. Borys closed her eyes but allegedly heard him remark that he had never seen what happened so up close and penetrated her with his finger.
After Borys escaped to the bathroom, Ballard eventually came in and told her that he had received useful information from the girls and said, “We are going to save so many children,” per the Times.
Ballard previously denied any misconduct in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children,” Ballard said.
Ballard declined to comment to the Times, while a lawyer Mark Eisenhut said that his client did not harass or physically assault any of the women he worked with, or have any inappropriate contact with sex workers.
“He has never been charged with a crime and every court considering a complaint against the Ballards so far has ruled in their favor,” Eisenhut said, per the publication.
While some of the allegations against Ballard have been dismissed, six sexual assault claims are reportedly under litigation.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said it was aware of “pending criminal investigations into Tim Ballard.”
