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Tim Ballard dog-tag story: How a necklace became a bane for the OUR

Tim Ballard has been accused of abusing his power and sexually exploiting at least seven women

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tim Ballard, an anti-child trafficking crusader, has been making headlines after being accused of abusing his power and sexually exploiting at least seven women.

The Utah-born former CIA agent was even ousted from his own advocacy group Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) following an internal investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations

Ballard founded the organization back in 2013 and since then he has claimed to have rescued several victims from the claws of child traffickers.

However, now he has been slammed with allegations of sexually harassing an OUR employee during one of his rescue missions.

“An OUR employee who accompanied Tim on an undercover operation filed a sexual harassment complaint against him with OUR’s HR department,” stated an anonymous letter reported by Vice.

Sources told the outlet that Ballard recruited women to work as his "wife" on covert international operations purportedly intended to save sex trafficking victims.

He, then, persuaded those women to share a bed or a shower, saying that doing so was vital to deceive traffickers. He is also accused of sending at least one woman "a photo of himself in his underwear, festooned with fake tattoos."

These new sexual misconduct allegations have also ignited media keenness in Ballard’s ‘not-so-real’ OUR origin story that he has peddled for years.

Is Tim Ballard’s dog-tag story a hoax?

Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad garnered immense public attention after the success of 'Sound of Freedom', a blockbuster movie that narrates the real-life story of the founding of his organization.

Released on July 4, the movie, which has grossed a worldwide total of $210.5 million, depicts how the search for a brother and sister led Ballard to found his advocacy organization.

Over the years, Ballard is often seen talking about his famous story, where a young boy, whom he recused from the Mexico border, gave him a dog-tag style necklace that had “Timoteo” written on it, with a Scripture reference from 1 Timothy 6:11.

The pendant also had the words “Man of God” inscribed on it. The former OUR CEO previously claimed that he realized the necklace was ‘a call from God’ after he went home and his son pointed out that his name was written on it.

However, Lynn Kenneth Packer, an investigator noted in his YouTube video that Ballard had changed his origin story three times in the past.

In one of his versions, Ballard said that the boy gave him the necklace at the border and he noticed his name on it right there.

However, other versions saw him noting that the boy gave him the necklace in a shelter home and his son pointed out his name on it after he reached home on the same day.

Packer also noted in his video that the alleged boy was not in a shelter on July 4 when Ballard claimed to have taken his interview.

Instead, the boy was in a San Diego hospital for medical treatment and was finally transported to the shelter on July 5, when an interview was conducted by an assigned caseworker, according to court documents.

What did OUR say about Tim Ballard’s dog-tag story?

The OUR apparently admitted that Ballard made up the kidnappings and lied about the necklace story and Columbian rescue, according to the American Crime Journal.

On June 27, exactly a week before the premiere of 'Sound of Freedom', OUR published 'Sound of Freedom: Based on A True Story (Except for the Parts That Aren’t)' which attempts to retell Ballard’s story that he has peddled for years.

“In the film, after Tim rescues Teddy, the boy gifts him a dog-tag type necklace with “Timoteo” written on it. True to the real story, the little boy’s sister had given her brother this necklace in the movie before they were separated. To them it symbolized the hope of rescue,” the article states.

“In real life, this happened while Tim was still an HSI Special Agent, and the little boy really did gift that necklace to Tim. On it, it has a scripture reference from 1 Timothy 6:11 and the words “Man of God” inscribed on it. It wasn’t until Tim took it home to show to his family that his son pointed out his name was on it.”

“Additionally, although Teddy’s sister is a person in real life, the story of Tim refusing to give up the search to find “the one,” as depicted in the film, is based on the true story of O.U.R.’s continual search for Gardy,” it continued.