Operation Underground Railroad
Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) is a nonprofit United States-based anti-sex trafficking organization founded in 2013 by Tim Ballard.[1] The organization has been criticized for its conduct during sting operations and has been accused of exaggerating claims regarding its work.[1][2] There have been no actual verified rescues performed by the group, and the group's claims of rescues have misled donors and the public about what the group does.[3] The group claims to have conducted multiple sting operations, some outside the United States, and donated technological and monetary resources to law-enforcement agencies that combat sex trafficking.[1][4]
Abbreviation
O.U.R.
October 2013
46-3614979
Global
Tim Ballard (ex-CEO)
Tammy Lee (current CEO)
Matt Osborne (President and COO)
The group's founder, Tim Ballard, was the subject of an internal investigation in 2023 after multiple former employees accused him of "sexual harassment, spiritual manipulation, grooming, and sexual misconduct." Ballard resigned as CEO as a result of the investigation. Weeks later, the organization was named in two separate lawsuits, in which the plaintiffs accused Tim Ballard of sexual assault, grooming, and coercing women into sexual acts during O.U.R.'s sting operations.
In a December 2023 statement posted on its website, the organization said an independent law firm reached the conclusion that Ballard had "engaged in unprofessional behavior that violated OUR's policies and values."[5]
Controversies[edit]
Justice Department warning[edit]
In February 2016, the Justice Department advised members of ICAC against "being involved in, assisting or supporting operations with" the O.U.R.; the commander of ICAC's Washington branch stated in an email to state and local police that O.U.R. was not affiliated with ICAC and that "no task-force group should partner with O.U.R. or provide O.U.R. with 'any resources, equipment, personnel, training.'"[11]
Connections to QAnon[edit]
A September 2020 Vice News article described O.U.R. as "QAnon-adjacent" and embracing followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which other trafficking charities had distanced themselves from.[12] Ballard told The New York Times, "Some of these theories have allowed people to open their eyes. So now it's our job to flood the space with real information so the facts can be shared."[13][14][12]
Misleading self-promotion[edit]
In a December 2020 article, Vice News said that Tim Ballard embellished O.U.R.'s role in the rescue of a trafficked woman, stating that they did not find "outright falsehoods but a pattern of image-burnishing and mythology-building, a series of exaggerations that are, in the aggregate, quite misleading".[1] A 2021 follow-up article further criticized O.U.R.'s practices, including using inexperienced donors and celebrities as part of its jump team, a lack of meaningful surveillance or identification of targets, failing to validate whether the people they intended to rescue were in fact actual trafficking victims, and conflating consensual sex work with sex trafficking.[15] O.U.R.'s CEO Ballard reportedly consulted a psychic for intelligence on some missions.[15][16]
A 2021 article in Slate criticized an armed 2014 raid conducted by O.U.R. in the Dominican Republic, which was filmed live by a camera crew to use in a proposed reality TV show, saying that it was likely to have traumatized the trafficked children.[2] The children rescued in the raid were released a few weeks later, without having received the three months of rehabilitative care that was hoped to be provided.[17] Anne Gallagher, an expert on the international law on human trafficking,[18] wrote in 2015 that O.U.R. had an "alarming lack of understanding about how sophisticated criminal trafficking networks must be approached and dismantled" and called the work of O.U.R "arrogant, unethical and illegal".[2][18]
In June 2022, Vice reported that O.U.R. falsely announced on its Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as on Ballard's Instagram account that O.U.R. had "partnered" with American Airlines and that the airline would show a video about O.U.R.'s work on all domestic flights that month. American Airlines said that they had never had a partnership or affiliation with O.U.R. or ever shown any of their videos, and that they were "taking appropriate action to have these posts removed".[19] O.U.R released a statement that the apparent mix up was due to their advertising agency informing them of the deal with American Airlines, which was not finalized yet.[20]
Sexual misconduct allegations[edit]
In the summer of 2023, Ballard stepped away from the organization after an internal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations made against him by multiple employees.[21][22][23][24][25][26] On September 28, several former employees and former contractors released a statement through attorney Suzette Rasmussen affirming the allegations, stating that they were "subjected to sexual harassment, spiritual manipulation, grooming, and sexual misconduct."[25] 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.[25]
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.[27]
Leadership change[edit]
After Ballard was forced out as CEO, O.U.R. began a search for new leadership.[28][29] During the search, Matt Osborne, the President and COO, led the organization.[21] On February 26, 2024, Tammy Lee, a corporate executive with experience at Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and the University of Minnesota Foundation, took over as the new CEO.[29][30] Lee also served on the White House Interagency Task Force to Combat Trafficking in Persons.[30]
Financials[edit]
O.U.R reported $6.9 million in revenues to the IRS in 2016, $22.3 million in 2019.[31]
According to Ministry Watch and ProPublica, the organization took in more than $45 million in 2020, but spent about $13.5 million on its work of allegedly rescuing sex trafficking victims, giving it $33.9 million in profit;[32][33] in 2021, it was $42 million, while spending $31 million; and in 2022, O.U.R. took in more than $27 million in donations, down from a peak of almost $46 million in 2020, and spent close to $32 million on program services.[32] As of December 2022, Operation Underground Railroad had more than $60 million in assets.[32]
In 2021, CEO Tim Ballard was paid $355,000 in salary and compensation. In 2022, he was paid $546,548.[34]
Publicity and celebrity endorsements[edit]
In 2015, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes joined Ballard in a sting operation in Colombia.[55]
Corbin Kaufusi, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, and Tony Robbins have helped raise funds for O.U.R.[56][57] In July 2021, O.U.R. partnered with a Ft. Myers, Florida, Harley-Davidson dealership in organizing a "freedom ride to raise awareness about child sex trafficking."[58] In 2018, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin went to Haiti "for a first-hand experience" with O.U.R., which was filmed for ESPN.[59]