Former Miss Utah Amy Morgan Davis has accused Sound of Freedom “hero” Tim Ballard of sexual misconduct, alleging he tried to force her into a romantic relationship.
Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad and gained worldwide recognition for his work rescuing children from trafficking situations overseas. His efforts were immortalized in the 2023 film Sound of Freedom, which grossed $250 million at the box office.
Since then, when five women He has been accused of sexual misconduct
On Monday, former Miss Utah Amy Morgan Davis spoke to the New York Times about her experience with Ballard.
Davis claimed Ballard fondled her body and insisted they had a “connection” during the course of their professional relationship.
Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad and gained worldwide recognition for his work rescuing children from trafficking situations overseas.
She claims to have worked as Ballard’s makeup artist, during which time he allegedly made sexual advances toward her.
Davis, who was Miss Utah ’04, claimed Ballard fondled her body and insisted they had a “connection” during the course of their professional relationship.
“It’s hard to accept because really, in your mind, you want him to be the hero,” he said.
Several of the complainants have since alleged that Ballard would ask them: “How far would you go to save a child?”
Ballard reportedly recruited women to act as his fake romantic partners when he was working undercover.
Together they would pose as “sex tourists.”
Ballard is said to have sent at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear and asked another “how far she was willing to go” to save the children, according to a source.
He allegedly assured the women involved that it was an easy excuse not to have sex with the victims he was trying to rescue, and that some of the victims would also feel more comfortable confiding in a woman than in him.
But in lawsuits filed against him, the women involved reported that Ballard expected them to keep the ruse private, too.
He allegedly told them that sex traffickers and dangerous people could have connections “anywhere” and that their lives would be in danger if they suspected they were being tricked.
Ballard denies all the accusations made against him.
In a video posted online, he said that ‘negative smears, lies and legal warfare… (are) causing children to suffer, be raped and tortured.
“They are complicit in child trafficking,” he said.
Their efforts were immortalized in the 2023 film Sound of Freedom, which grossed $250 million at the box office.
The women allege that Ballard used his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his connection to church leaders to persuade them that what he was doing was only for the good of children who needed help.
Ballard said church president M. Russell Ballard, no relation, gave him special permission to use the couples deception “as long as there was no sexual intercourse or kissing.”
The church in a September statement condemned Ballard for “unauthorized use” of the church president’s name for personal gain and for “activity deemed morally unacceptable,” without specifying what that activity was.
But it now appears the church has completely cut ties with the married father of nine.