Ballard founded the non-profit organization
Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) in 2013. He has claimed that his organization has rescued thousands of
trafficking victims. He was invited by
Donald Trump to join a
White House anti-trafficking advisory board. 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. The hearing focused on partnerships between the
US government and
non-governmental organizations that rescue trafficking victims. On March 6, 2019, Ballard testified before the
US Senate Judiciary Committee about
US-Mexico border security and its relation to child sex trafficking. As early as 2016, Ballard was criticized for broadcasting raids without regard for victim privacy. In October 2020, the Attorney's Office of
Davis County, Utah initiated an investigation into complaints that O.U.R. and Ballard had conducted illegal fundraising efforts. No charges were filed and the investigation was closed on March 28, 2023. In 2021, Ballard paid himself in salary and compensation as
CEO of O.U.R. In 2022, his salary had risen to . Ballard and supporters of O.U.R. have been accused of promoting the
QAnon conspiracy theory as early as 2020. In July 2023, the month
Sound of Freedom was released, Ballard stated that this claim is not true and is being used to discredit him and the film. In an interview with
Jordan Peterson the same month, Ballard claimed, without evidence, to have recently raided a West African "baby factory", where children were sold for organ harvesting and
Satanic ritual abuse, a claim that echoed a QAnon conspiracy theory. In a December 2025 podcast interview, Ballard alleged that OUR Rescue (formerly Operation Underground Railroad) had purchased Google ads using his name and redirected donors searching for him to their organization. In January 2026, Ballard posted on X that a forthcoming “OUR-Rescue Fraud” video would accuse OUR Rescue of misuse of donor funds, communications fraud, and other misconduct, and said a legal team believed the organization had violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
Sexual misconduct allegations and resignation Ballard was removed as CEO and forced to leave O.U.R. in 2023. At the time, it was reported that employees and donors to an anti-child trafficking non-profit, Operation Underground Railroad, received a letter making the claim that Ballard had recently left the organization following internally-investigated claims made against him by employees, later reporting that his departure had followed "allegations of sexual misconduct." The contents of the anonymous letter were published in full on September 17; it alleged a pattern of grooming and manipulation of women affiliated with the organization. In the same week that the allegations were made public (though after many months of private discussions with Ballard), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publicly denounced Ballard, stating that he had used the name of church leader
M. Russell Ballard (no relation) for personal gain, and called his conduct "morally unacceptable.” The governor of Utah,
Spencer Cox, called the sexual misconduct allegations "disturbing" and "unconscionable" if true. Ballard denied the accusations, saying that "they are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children." On September 28, several former employees and former contractors released a statement through attorney Suzette Rasmussen affirming the allegations against Ballard, stating that they were "subjected to sexual harassment, spiritual manipulation, grooming, and sexual misconduct." That same morning, O.U.R. released a statement confirming that they had launched an investigation into the allegations when they were first made, and that at the conclusion of that investigation, Ballard resigned.
Lawsuits and investigations On October 11, 2023, a married couple filed a lawsuit against O.U.R. and Ballard, accusing Ballard of sexual assault and grooming. In a statement in the lawsuit, the husband alleged that Ballard wanted his wife to help O.U.R., despite her having "no training in any sort of undercover work." The lawsuit went on to state that Ballard began abusing the "couples ruse", in which Ballard had women pose undercover as his wife or girlfriend to fool traffickers on purported rescue missions, and used it as a tool for
sexual grooming. In January 2024, one of Ballard's accusers filed additional criminal complaints of sexual assault in four California jurisdictions. This was followed by a Federal suit in October under the
Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. In October 2024, the six women suing Ballard in state court filed an additional lawsuit in federal court, which added an allegation that Ballard engaged in sex trafficking. In November 2025, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill declined to file criminal charges against Tim Ballard related to allegations of sexual assault, stating that his office lacked sufficient corroborating evidence to meet the burden of proof. Gill emphasized that the decision applied only to incidents alleged to have occurred within Salt Lake County, and that the decision did not diminish the credibility of the complainants. Allegations involving incidents in Utah County and California were not addressed by the declination. == Post-excommunication statements and disputes with the LDS Church ==