Tim Ballard escapes one accuser's lawsuit, but five sexual abuse claims remain

A federal judge dismissed Celeste Borys' claims against anti-trafficking activist Tim Ballard over discovery misconduct. Five other women's sexual abuse cases proceed.

Federal judge drops one plaintiff's case against OUR founder Tim Ballard over evidence violations

A Utah federal judge dismissed sexual abuse claims brought by former Operation Underground Railroad employee Celeste Borys against anti-human trafficking activist Tim Ballard on Monday, citing her improper handling of evidence — but allowed five other women's cases to move forward, Courthouse News Service reports.

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled he was bound by an earlier state court decision finding that Borys had unlawfully maintained access to Ballard's email and cloud storage accounts after she resigned as his personal assistant in September 2023, collecting roughly 100 personal documents without authorization. Shelby dismissed Borys' federal 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."

Shelby also noted that Borys' attorneys had not informed Ballard's counsel about the documents, compounding the procedural violation. Lesser sanctions, he wrote, would not adequately address the misconduct.

Discovery misconduct, not the merits

Borys' attorney Alan Mortensen, of Mortensen & Milne, emphasized in a statement that Shelby's ruling addressed procedure, not the substance of the abuse allegations.

"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."

Mortensen also noted that the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office declined last week to pursue a criminal case against Borys for accessing and disclosing the confidential documents, citing insufficient evidence. He further pointed out that a Third District Court sexual violence protective order remains in place against Ballard following the discovery of matching DNA evidence on Borys' skirt.

"Today's decision does not erase those facts," Mortensen said. "It concerns a procedural sanctions issue, not whether Mr. Ballard committed sexual misconduct."

Five accusers cleared to proceed

Ballard had argued that the five remaining plaintiffs should also be dismissed, contending they shared the same legal strategy and counsel as Borys. Shelby rejected that 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."

The five women — also former employees, volunteers, and contractors at OUR — allege that Ballard used a tactic he called the "couples ruse" to coerce them into sexual acts during undercover operations targeting sex trafficking rings. Their complaint describes the strategy as a pretext to groom and sexually exploit the women who worked with his organization.

"Unfortunately for all parties, the couples ruse was never more than the fruition of the sexual fantasies of an unsatisfied husband," they write 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."

The plaintiffs allege Ballard initially misrepresented that their roles required only superficial physical contact, then progressively demanded more — including oral sex and intercourse — under the claim that such acts were necessary to maintain their undercover cover. According to the complaint, he reinforced his control by invoking religious authority and manipulating the women's desire to protect children, while binding them with restrictive nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from speaking out or seeking help.

Background: OUR and the 2023 accusations

Ballard founded Operation Underground Railroad in 2013. The organization, which operated by infiltrating and exposing trafficking networks through deception, grew into a prominent anti-trafficking nonprofit. Ballard resigned from OUR in June 2023 following accusations of sexual assault, amid an internal investigation into potential misconduct.

Borys, who had worked as his personal assistant, resigned in September of the same year, but not before copying the documents that would later become the basis of the state court's sanctions ruling. Third District Judge Todd Shaughnessy found she had improperly maintained access to Ballard's data after leaving her position and that she and her attorneys had circumvented the discovery process. That ruling led to the dismissal of her state claims.

Separately, Ballard is pursuing a defamation lawsuit against Borys in state court. His attorneys did not respond to requests for comment on Monday's federal ruling.

Source: Courthouse News Service