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== Media appearances==
== Media appearances==


Ballard has been interviewed on multiple news outlets including [[Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace]], [[The Meredith Vieira Show]], [[CBS Nightly News]], [[ABC Nightline]], [[CNN Headline News]], [[MSNBC]], [[The Glenn Beck Program]], and recently on [[TimcastIRL]] podcast, as well as many local news shows.<ref name="Biography"/>{{citation needed|date=July 2023|reason=primary source, unverified by reliable secondary source}}
Ballard has been interviewed on multiple news outlets including [[Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace]], [[The Meredith Vieira Show]], [[CBS Nightly News]], [[ABC Nightline]], [[CNN Headline News]], [[MSNBC]], [[The Glenn Beck Program]], and recently with [[Tim Pool]] on the TimcastIRL podcast, as well as many local news shows.<ref name="Biography"/>{{citation needed|date=July 2023|reason=primary source, unverified by reliable secondary source}}


== Awards ==
== Awards ==

Revision as of 11:47, 14 July 2023

Tim Ballard
Ballard in 2018
Born
Provo, Utah, U.S.
EducationLa Cañada High School
Brigham Young University
Monterey Institute of International Studies
Occupation
  • CEO, author, law enforcement
Known forOperation Underground Railroad
Websitewww.timothyballard.com

Timothy Ballard is an American anti-human trafficking activist and author, who served as a Special Agent Undercover Operator for U.S. Department of Homeland Security for 11+ years. [1] He is the founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.),[2] CEO of The Nazarene Fund[3] and the author of several books.[4][5] Ballard has credited his organization with rescuing thousands of trafficking victims.[citation needed] The 2023 American action film Sound of Freedom starring Jim Caviezel was inspired by the work of Ballard.[6]

Biography

Education

Ballard grew up in California.[7] As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a two-year mission to Chile. After completing his mission, he attended and graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and political science. He then obtained a Master of Arts in international politics from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, graduating summa cum laude.[8][9][10]

Federal service

According to Ballard, he first worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, assigned to anti-terrorism focused on Latin America. He later was a Department of Homeland Security Special Agent and was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. In that role, he was an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team. He operated in multiple foreign countries and successfully infiltrated child trafficking organizations.[11][12]

During this period, he was responsible for taking down dozens of trafficking organizations and rescued a large number of children from sex slavery. He became an expert in file-sharing networks where pedophiles and traffickers share child pornography. He has trained hundreds of US and international law enforcement professionals in approaches to liberate children from sex slavery.[11][12][citation needed]

Founder Operation Underground Railroad

In 2013, Ballard founded the non-profit organization Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.).[13] O.U.R. has been carried out more than 4,000 operations and been responsible for 6,500 arrests since its inception. Ballard says that they've extracted more than 6,000 women and children from trafficking and sex slavery.[12]

He has briefed politicians on the issue of child sex trafficking, including President Donald Trump in January 2019.[14][15][16][17][18][excessive citations]

Ballard trained Imperial County Sheriff’s Office personnel in the use of data mining software that led to the arrest of a man suspected of distributing child pornography.[19]

Testimony before Congress

On May 14, 2015, Ballard testified before the United States Congress House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Human Rights during which he recommended procedures and practices for rescuing children from trafficking rings.[20] The hearing focused on partnerships between the U.S. government and non-governmental organizations that rescue trafficking victims.[21] On March 6, 2019, Ballard testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee about US-Mexico border security and its relation to child sex trafficking.[22][23]

Presidential appointment

In 2019 Ballard was appointed to the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking.[24] The Council was terminated as required by the enabling legislation on September 30, 2020.[25]

Media

In 2016, The Abolitionists, a documentary produced by Gerald Molen, featured the first operations undertaken by Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad.[26] Another documentary from director Nick Nanton, Operation Toussaint, was produced in 2018 which featured an operation in Haiti that had the support of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and former US congresswoman Mia Love of Utah.[15] A feature film about Ballard's life, Sound of Freedom, starring Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, and Eduardo Verástegui was announced in 2018.[27][28] The 2018 documentary, Operation Toussaint, and the 2020 documentary, Triple Take, were also based on Ballard's work against sex trafficking.[29][30]

ESPN featured Ballard and Pittsburgh Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin in a piece which highlighted the restavek issue near the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.[31] Tomlin would also write the foreword to Ballard's book Slave Stealers: True Accounts of Slave Rescues – Then and Now.[32][33][34]

Criminal investigation

In October 2020, the Attorney's Office of Davis County, Utah initiated an investigation into complaints that O.U.R. and Tim Ballard had conducted illegal fundraising efforts.[35][36][37] No charges were filed and the investigation was closed on March 28, 2023.[38]

Criticism

Ballard has been criticized for broadcasting raids without regards for victim privacy.[39][40]

Media appearances

Ballard has been interviewed on multiple news outlets including Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, The Meredith Vieira Show, CBS Nightly News, ABC Nightline, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, The Glenn Beck Program, and recently with Tim Pool on the TimcastIRL podcast, as well as many local news shows.[11][citation needed]

Awards

In 2017, Ballard won the 2017 Social Entrepreneur Award at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017 Utah Region Awards.[41]

References

  1. ^ Tim Ballard LinkedIn Profile
  2. ^ "Tim Ballard Has 'Stepped Away' From Operation Underground Railroad, Org Says". Motherboard - Vice Media. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "FAQ'S – The Nazarene Fund". The Nazarene Fund. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "Founder, CEO of Operation Underground Railroad to speak at UVU". DeseretNews.com. October 7, 2016. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "Crossfit OUR". Crossfit OUR. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  6. ^ Jurgensen, John (July 2, 2023). "A Child-Trafficking Thriller Is Taking on Hollywood. Who's Behind It?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Armstrong, Jamie (October 18, 2018). "Rescuing Children from Sex Slavery: One Mormon's Inspired Mission". LDS Living. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  8. ^ "The Team". Operation Underground Railroad. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  9. ^ "Tim Ballard | PragerU". www.prageru.com. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  10. ^ "Tim Ballard and Healthier You Conference". BEAR LAKE MEMORIAL. January 2, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c "Tim Ballard Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c "Sound of Freedom vs. the True Story of Tim Ballard". HistoryvsHollywood.com. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  13. ^ Hanson, Kurt. "Operation Underground Railroad: Saves lives in ways most can't". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  14. ^ Dinan, Stephen (February 1, 2019). "Border security expert: 'The wall rescued this little boy'". The Washington Times. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  15. ^ a b Armstrong, Jamie (June 2, 2017). "LDS Congresswoman, Operation Underground Railroad Founder Meet with President of Haiti to Address Human Trafficking". LDS Living. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  16. ^ Aguirre, Alberto (June 13, 2019). "El amigou de doña Olga". El Economista (in Spanish). Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  17. ^ Toone, Trent (October 26, 2017). "Operation Underground Railroad's Tim Ballard meets with Ivanka Trump, politicians regarding human trafficking". Deseret News. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  18. ^ "Timothy Ballard: "I've Fought Sex Trafficking as a DHS Special Agent – We Need to Build the Wall for the Children"". whitehouse.gov. January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019 – via National Archives.
  19. ^ "Tech startup Operation Underground Railroad is saving kids from human traffickers". VentureBeat. April 26, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  20. ^ "Hearing Sex Trafficking Victims, May 14 2015". C-SPAN.org. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  21. ^ "Hearing: Sex Trafficking Victims". C-SPAN. May 14, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  22. ^ "Watch: Senate Judiciary Committee holds hearing on human trafficking at U.S. southern border". PBS NewsHour. March 6, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  23. ^ "Oversight of Customs and Border Protection's Response to the Smuggling of Persons at the Southern Border". U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  24. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Appoint Individuals to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. October 29, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020 – via National Archives.
  25. ^ "Biographic Information for Members of the Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 1, 2015). "'Abolitionists' Documentary Series About Rescuing Kids From Sex Slavery Shopped". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  27. ^ Bond, Paul (September 6, 2016). "Child Sex Trafficking Explored in New Doc 'Abolitionists' (Exclusive Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  28. ^ Bond, Paul (June 15, 2018). "Blockchain Platform TaTaTu to Co-Finance 'Sound of Freedom'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  29. ^ Terry, Josh (July 26, 2018). "Movie review: Gripping 'Operation Toussaint' shows Tim Ballard's real-life battle against sex trafficking". Deseret News.
  30. ^ Briccetti, Peter (July 30, 2020). "Operation Triple Take Fails to Address Systemic Issues with Child Sex-Trafficking". Whistleblower Network News.
  31. ^ Fowler, Jeremy (November 2, 2017). "Mike Tomlin, Steelers partner with anti-sex-trafficking initiative". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  32. ^ Varley, Teresa (August 3, 2018). "Tomlin helping to tell a tough story". Steelers.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  33. ^ Fittipaldo, Ray (August 3, 2008). "Mike Tomlin and the Steelers are doing their part to end child sex trafficking". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  34. ^ "Mike Tomlin Authors Foreward For New Book Focusing On Fight Against Human Trafficking". KDKA-TV. August 3, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  35. ^ Herbets, Adam & Carlisle, Nate (October 8, 2020). "Anti-human trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad under criminal investigation by Utah prosecutor". KSTU.
  36. ^ Herbets, Adam (October 10, 2020). "Anti-human-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad under investigation". Cedar City News.
  37. ^ "Breaking News: Anti-human trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad under criminal investigation by Davis County Attorney". American Crime Journal. October 8, 2020.
  38. ^ ?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=DeseretNews%2Fmagazine%2FUtah Davis County Attorney’s Office closes investigation into Operation Underground Railroad
  39. ^ "Hunting for sex-traffickers abroad". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  40. ^ "The Hypocrisy of Trump's Anti-Trafficking Argument for a Border Wall". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  41. ^ "Ballard, Utah Region, 2017". EY Hall of Fame.
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