Despite the disgrace of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) following revelations that its founder Tim Ballard, subject of a heroic 2023 biopic, was himself a serial sexual predator toward women who worked in the organization, many victims of its ethically questionable tactics continue to suffer imprisonment or sex offender registration. Ballard’s relentless self-promotion netted the organization over $40 million in donations in 2023, but the organization’s extravagant claims about the numbers of children it rescued have come under scrutiny by media. Most of its sting operations involved undercover police luring men looking for company on adult websites, with no actual underage children ever being targets of their attention. Many of the children it claims to have rescued in third-world countries wound up being placed in orphanages where they were in turn abused.
Victims of Disgraced “Operation Underground Railroad” Still Suffer
