Oh, the irony.

Six women have filed a federal lawsuit against Tim Ballard and the nonprofit he founded Operation Underground Railroad. The federal lawsuit accuses Tim Ballard of laundering money to pay for prostitutes.

Tim Ballard, a high-profile anti-trafficking activist and former head of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), is now facing allegations of human trafficking in a newly filed federal lawsuit. The lawsuit, brought by six women who previously accused Ballard of sexual exploitation, escalates previous claims, alleging that Ballard engaged in trafficking-related offenses during his work with OUR. The legal action, filed in the U.S. District of Utah, marks the first federal case against Ballard and seeks damages under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003.

Ballard gained significant attention as the founder of OUR, an anti-trafficking organization that conducts so-called “rescue missions” abroad.

His work was also popularized by the 2023 film Sound of Freedom, which dramatized Ballard’s exploits. However, even as his profile rose, so did scrutiny, as accusations of sexual misconduct and deceptive practices emerged. OUR severed ties with Ballard before the film’s release, citing internal complaints of misconduct.

The six plaintiffs—Celeste Borys, Mary Hall, Sasha Hightower, Krista Kacey, Kira Lynch, and Bree Righter—claim they were recruited by Ballard and OUR to participate in overseas missions. Instead of focusing solely on rescue operations, Ballard allegedly coerced the women into “performing sex, labor, and services” under the guise of a tactic known as the “couples ruse.” The tactic was supposedly meant to fool traffickers into believing that Ballard and the women were romantically involved, which the lawsuit claims resulted in sexual exploitation.

The plaintiffs further allege that Ballard and his associates, named as defendants in the case, laundered money to hire sex workers during missions abroad and engaged in other exploitative activities. The lawsuit asserts that “the anti-traffickers are the traffickers,” positioning the alleged conduct as a betrayal of the organization’s purported mission.

The latest legal challenge follows a series of defamation suits filed by Ballard against these same plaintiffs, asserting that their claims are false and defamatory.

Ballard’s attorney, Mark Eisenhut, dismissed the new allegations as “desperate forum shopping” and emphasized that prior lawsuits against Ballard have been dismissed due to inconsistencies. “Two suits against Tim Ballard have already been dismissed and a third is headlined by a woman convicted of pimping minor children,” Eisenhut stated.

The third suit mentioned by Eisenhut involves Kely Johana Suárez Moya, a Colombian woman who was arrested during a 2014 sting operation orchestrated by Ballard. Suárez alleges she was entrapped by a fake sex party set up by Ballard’s team, claiming she had been there to earn money through sex work, not to traffic others. Ballard, however, portrayed Suárez as one of the villains in Sound of Freedom.

Throughout his career, Ballard has denied allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, and trafficking-related offenses.

His supporters have rallied behind him, contributing to a legal defense fund via Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo. The SPEAR Fund, another anti-trafficking organization that Ballard was affiliated with after leaving OUR, initially called the allegations “false” but has since removed references to Ballard from its website. The organization did not respond to inquiries regarding Ballard’s status or the ongoing legal issues.

Despite these legal challenges and waning support within some circles, Ballard continues to maintain a public presence, frequently appearing at events alongside prominent conservative figures. In one recent event, he posed with Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk, using the hashtag #GodsChildrenAreNotForSale, a tagline from Sound of Freedom.

The federal lawsuit signals a significant shift in the legal strategy against Ballard, now addressing allegations under a statute designed to protect victims of trafficking.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act allows plaintiffs to seek damages for trafficking offenses, including punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. This lawsuit’s outcome could have implications for Ballard’s reputation, as well as the broader landscape of anti-trafficking efforts, given the potential involvement of well-known organizations like OUR.

While the case unfolds, Ballard’s work and credibility continue to be a subject of intense public and legal scrutiny. His case also raises questions about accountability in the anti-trafficking sector, especially when leaders of such movements face allegations of engaging in the very offenses they seek to combat.

As of now, the lawsuit is in its early stages, with legal teams preparing for what could be a complex and protracted battle. Both sides remain resolute in their positions, with the plaintiffs seeking justice under federal law and Ballard’s defense maintaining that the allegations are baseless.

Yes, my friends, you read that right.

Tim Ballard calls himself a devoted husband and father who spent years fighting to help “victims” of human trafficking.

Now, the reality may be very different.

Read his own words, “Traffickers, with insidious cunning, often groom children by earning their trust through manipulation, feigning friendship or love, only to exploit their innocence, turning each groomed child into a silent statistic in the grim ledger of human trafficking.”

The very thing he now stands accused of.

Laundering money to hire hookers may not seem like that big of a deal to some, but when you are the man tasked with saving those vulnerable people, it suddenly becomes far worse.