Anti-human trafficking activist avoids former employee's sexual abuse claims

(CN) — A Utah federal judge dismissed on Monday one of the women who sued anti-human trafficking activist and Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard from a federal lawsuit against him over her discovery misconduct.

Celeste Borys and five other women who worked for him say Ballard forced them to participate in sexual acts as part of their undercover operations. Ballard’s organization worked on rescuing victims of human trafficking and exposing trafficking rings through infiltration and deception.

The plaintiffs claim that Ballard engaged in sexual acts with them in an effort to infiltrate sex trafficking rings. They say that Ballard used this strategy as a pretext to groom and sexually assault women who worked with his organization.

Ballard resigned from OUR after accusations of sexual assault in June 2023 amid an investigation into potential misconduct. Borys resigned in September that year, but not until after she collected about 100 personal documents from Ballard’s email and cloud storage that she had access to as his personal assistant, court documents say.

Borys initially sued Ballard in state court, but Third District Judge Todd Shaughnessy found that she improperly maintained access to Ballard’s data after she resigned as his assistant and that, in doing so, she and her attorneys circumvented the discovery process. Shaughnessy dismissed Borys’ claims against Ballard.

Borys also sued Ballard in federal court, where U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled Monday that he was bound by the state court’s findings and also dismissed Borys’ claims against Ballard with prejudice.

“The court finds Borys’ conduct prejudiced Ballard and weighs in favor of dismissal,” Shelby, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote. “Numerous potentially confidential documents and communications were made public, including potentially privileged materials. Whether or not the privilege had been waived in one or more of the documents is beside the point. It is not for Borys and her attorneys to decide, it is ultimately for the court to decide. Preventing the court from doing so deprived Ballard of meaningful discovery protections and the established processes under the federal rules of civil procedure.”

Crucially, Borys’ attorneys did not inform Ballard’s counsel about the documents, Shelby noted. Other, lesser sanctions did not adequately address the misconduct, he wrote.

Shelby’s order did not address the merits of the sexual abuse claims, focusing instead on Borys’ misconduct around discovery. This is critical for the public to understand, Borys’ attorney Alan Mortensen, of Mortensen & Milne, said in a statement to press.

“We respectfully disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” Mortensen wrote. “We are already appealing Judge Shaughnessy’s sanctions decision to the Utah Supreme Court, and we believe the important legal issues underlying today’s federal order will ultimately be resolved through the appellate process.”

Ballard also argued that the other women in the case should be dismissed because they share the same legal strategy and counsel. But Shelby disagreed with this argument.

“Unlike Borys, the other plaintiffs did not actively monitor Ballard’s email account or comb through his confidential documents without authorization,” he wrote. “No evidence presented indicates the plaintiffs themselves instructed Borys to search the Google accounts, nor does Ballard show the other plaintiffs directed the attorneys to file the documents in their case with knowledge of their improper source.”

He also noted the other plaintiffs were not involved in the state case.

The five other plaintiffs will be allowed to proceed with their claims against Ballard. The crux of their complaint against Ballard relies on his use of a strategy dubbed the “couples ruse.”

“Unfortunately for all parties, the couples ruse was never more than the fruition of the sexual fantasies of an unsatisfied husband,” they say in their complaint. “But through the couples ruse, Tim placed plaintiffs in situations that Tim had told them would be ’life-or-death,’ groomed them spiritually and emotionally, sexually exploited them, and never delivered on the promise to save women and children.”

They say that Ballard relied on female employees, volunteers and contractors to engage in sexual behavior to gain the trust of human traffickers.

“He initially misrepresented that their role required only superficial physical contact, then progressively demanded sexual touching, oral sex, and intercourse under the false pretense that such acts were ‘necessary to maintain their cover,’” they say. “Tim reinforced his coercive control by invoking false spiritual authority, manipulating the plaintiffs’ desire to save children,’ and isolating them through restrictive nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from seeking help or revealing the abuse. Under these fraudulent pretenses, plaintiffs were compelled to provide unwanted sexual conduct and services.”

Ballard is also suing Borys in state court in a separate defamation lawsuit.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined last week to proceed with a case against Borys for accessing and disclosing confidential documents without authorization due to a lack of evidence, Mortensen said.

He also pointed out that a Third District court sexual violence protective order remains against Ballard after matching DNA evidence was discovered on her skirt.

“Today’s decision does not erase those facts,” he said. “It concerns a procedural sanctions issue, not whether Mr. Ballard committed sexual misconduct.”

Ballard’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Ballard began Operation Underground Railroad in 2013 after leaving a position with the Department of Homeland Security. However, it wasn’t until July 2023 — shortly after his resignation — that Ballard and OUR rose to national prominence, following the widespread release of the film the “Sound of Freedom,” a dramatized retelling of the organization’s anti-trafficking actions. The film was considered a major success, but drew criticism for mixing with conspiracy beliefs.

In a public rebuke, the Mormon Church condemned Ballard in September 2023 for immoral behavior.