Tim Ballard

Timothy Ballard is founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, an organization that worked to rescue children enslaved in the world of sex trafficking.

Ballard began his career at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency where he worked on cases dealing with terrorism and Latin America. For more than ten years, he worked as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security where he was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and deployed as an undercover operative for the U.S. Child Sex Tourism Jump Team. His work to infiltrate child trafficking organizations has positioned him in the United States and many foreign countries where he has successfully dismantled dozens of these organizations and rescued children from sex slavery. It is estimated that two million children are being trafficked as sex slaves in the world today.[1]

Ballard was trained to fight terrorism, so when his boss asked him to help form a child crimes unit, he was surprised and initially said no. His boss indicated that Ballard’s religious background would strengthen him against the horrific crimes he would be facing. So Ballard and his wife, Katherine, fasted and prayed about the decision and said yes.

It wasn’t long after his first case, which led to the rescue of a 5-year-old boy, that he again doubted if he could withstand the emotional, psychological, and spiritual toll.

“This little boy was being violated in the worst possible way,” he recalls. “I was the first agent on the scene, and he jumped into my arms and wouldn’t let go. I came home that night and collapsed on the floor and cried like a baby.”

“I told my wife, ‘I can’t do this.’ These children are being kidnapped and raped. There is nothing worse on earth. There is nothing worse in hell.” But he felt a powerful confirmation that this was what he was supposed to do. “I made a commitment to God and to that little boy that I would do everything I could, even if it killed me.”[2]

When Ballard felt burdened by the limits of his work—he could only work on cases if they involved U.S. citizens—increased spiritual experiences prompted him to move to Utah and do more in the field. He left his job with the government (in December 2013) and his family moved in 2012. There things fell into place to start Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) and his specialized team began operations in January 2014. His team is reported to have liberated more than two hundred children in 2014 alone.[3] The children they rescue are rehabilitated through skilled organizations.

Due to allegations and subsequent lawsuits, Ballard was removed as CEO and forced to leave O.U.R. in 2023.[4] In July 2025, a judge dismissed a case brought against him and OUR in 2023 by his former assistant, Celeste Borys, and her husband, Mike Borys. However, "Ballard won on procedural grounds after a Utah district court judge ruled Monday that the key evidence had been improperly obtained, ultimately dropping the case against both Ballard and OUR. The ruling did not address the underlying claims of sexual misconduct or how organization leadership may have enabled the alleged inappropriate behavior."[5] Some of the cases are ongoing. Ballard has denied any wrongdoing in any of the legal suits against him, and has filed defamation cases against other women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.[6]

Ballard is no longer working undercover. He has trained hundreds of law enforcement officers worldwide and works to educate the public about this plague that is a global fast-growing and lucrative criminal industry.

Ballard rescued a brother and sister in Haiti and he and his wife adopted them. He and his wife have six other children.

Ballard earned his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and politics from Brigham Young University and his master’s degree in international politics from Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.has taught American and International Politics at San Diego State University and at Imperial Valley College. He is the author of The Lincoln Hypothesis: A Modern-day Abolitionist Investigates the Possible Connection between Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and Abraham Lincoln, The Covenant, Lincoln, and the War, and The Covenant: America's Sacred and Immutable Connection to Ancient Israel.

A few productions featuring Ballard and his work have been produced. Academy Award-winning producer Gerald Molen made a documentary on Ballard and his work entitled “The Abolitionists,” which premiered in 2014. 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. In 2023, Ballard was the subject of a new film by Angel Studios, "Sound of Freedom." Writer/director Alejandro Monteverde began formulating a screenplay on the subject of the sex trafficking of children before he had ever heard of Tim Ballard.[7]

Ballard has served as a senior advisor to SPEAR, an organization that aims to collaborate with organizations to end human trafficking. In September 2023, Ballard testified to the House Homeland Security Committee about the international exploitation of children.

Also in September 2023, Ballard became the subject of news articles about him. See FAIR for questions and answers about the Ballard current events. Also see Ballard's response.

He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; however, it is unknown what his membership status is. In September 2023, he issued a statement that read in part, “I am a faithful Member in good standing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Scriptures, and I believe in our faith with my whole heart. That will never change.”[8]

In October 2025, he posted on Instagram that he had been excommunicated.[9]