Tim Ballard

[smac97]

I am increasingly curious about "Slave Stealers, LLC," as that may be the "for profit" business in which, allegedly, had Tim Ballard characterizing Pres. Ballard as a "silent partner."  A few thoughts:

1. Slave Stealers, LLC is a Utah limited liability company, entity no. 11093965-0160.  It was originally created on 12/13/2018, and its registered agent is "Douglas Edmunds," who is apparently an attorney in St. George (the address given to the state for Edmunds as "Registered Agent" is the same address Edmunds has listed with the Utah State Bar for his office address).

2. I have uploaded to my Google Drive all of the documents submitted to the State of Utah relating to this LLC, which can be downloaded as a single PDF here.

3. Page 1 of the PDF is the "Certificate of Organization" used to create the LLC.  The original "Organizer" (which, I think, may be the same as "member" or "owner") is listed as "Kathryn K. Shelton."  There is a "Kathryn K. Shelton" listed as a paralegal at a law firm in Salt Lake, but I don't know if this is the same person.  No other member of the LLC is listed in this document.

4. Page 2 of the PDF is a record of a change to the LLC filed on February 7, 2020 by "Matthew Starley."  LinkedIn shows a "Matthew Starley" in Ogden, but I don't know if this is the same person.  LinkedIn also has a "Matthew W. Starley" in St. George, and he is an attorney.  I think this is more likely the person who made the change to the LLC.  This document shows Tim Ballard being added as the "Manager" of the LLC, with what looks like a business park address in Farmington.

5.Page 3 of the PDF is a record of a change to the LLC filed on June 4, 2020 by "Stephen Goodman."  This document changes the LLC's address to a business address in St. George, and replaces the original Registered Agent with "HGG Advisors, PLLC," which has the same new St. George address as is given for the LLC.  Per the HGG website, this appears to be an accounting firm.

6. Pages 4-5 of the PDF is a record of a change to the LLC filed on November 11, 2020 by Douglas Edmunds.  In this document the address for the LLC is changed to a business address in Lehi.  Also, Edmunds replaces HGG Advisors as the LLC's registered agent.  Also, "Brian Norton" is listed as the manager of the LLC (apparently alongside Tim Ballard, not in replacement of).  IMDB shows a "Brian Norton" as being a producer, with Tim Ballard, of an upcoming adaptation of Ballard's "Slave Stealers" book.

7. Pages 6-7 of the PDF is a record of a change to the LLC filed on December 23, 2021 by Douglas Edmunds.  In this document the LLC's office address is again changed, this time to Edmunds' law office in St. George.  The addresses for Edmunds and Norton are also changed to the St. George address.

8. Page 8 of the PDF is a record of a change to the LLC filed on December 31, 2022 by Douglas Edmunds.  In this document Tim Ballard is removed as manager (leaving, I think, Brian Norton as the only manager of the LLC).

9. None of the foregoing documents seems to indicate who the "member(s)" of the LLC is/are.  I did a search on the principals (downloadable here), but it only shows the Registered Agent (Edmunds) and the Manager (Norton). 

In sum:

• The documents filed with the state do not appear to disclose who the member(s) (owners) of the LLC is/are.  That seems a bit odd to me.
• The LLC seems to change addresses and registered agents fairly often.
• Tim Ballard not the "manager" of the LLC, and so ostensibly would not have managerial control over it.
• Per the whiteboard presentation in my previous post, Slave Stealers, LLC supposedly has Brian Norton and Tim Ballard, along with "Russell Ballard (silent {partner})."
• Nothing in the LLC documents references Pres. Ballard in any way.

Thanks,

-Smac

  

[Calm]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:02 PM, Calm said:

can understand for a variety of reasons why Ballard wouldn’t want to share profits with them, but the other producers, the movie studio to not to…it would have been a great PR move to add that reason for buying tickets to the “we must educate the world about this evil” promo they apparently attached to the end of the movie (telling viewers to buy tickets and give them to others to help spread the word).***

I looked up on the movie’s website and it is disappointing, but not unexpected by now that there is no mention on the first page at least of any way to help trafficked victims except by buying more tickets and telling your friends and employees about the movie.  No info about other organizations accessible without clicking a link.

https://www.angel.com/pay-it-forward/sound-of-freedom

What is Sound of Freedom?

Sound of Freedom is a true story film that exposes the darkness of child trafficking. A federal agent saves a boy from traffickers, but his sister is still captive. He embarks on a dangerous mission, risking his life to free her from a fate worse than death.

 

How else can I support Sound of Freedom?

Thank you so much for helping us share Sound of Freedom with the world! You can find more ways to support this important message here.

 

How is the ticket price determined?

Prices may vary by region. Many tickets include an additional fee of approximately $1.50-2.00 per ticket, which most providers charge during the checkout process. Pay it Forward funds are used to distribute as many tickets as possible.

 

How will this money be used?

Your Pay It Forward dollars will provide the means for people to claim actual tickets to see this film.

 

Want to buy tickets for your business or employees?

Every ticket counts. Your business can help reach the goal of 2 million seats by providing tickets to your employees. Complete this form and we will send you a quote.

 

Who will receive free tickets?

Anyone who cannot afford a ticket or would not otherwise be able to see the film will have an opportunity to claim a free ticket at angel.com/freetickets and redeem it using these instructions.

 

Why should I Pay it Forward to Sound of Freedom?

When you Pay it Forward to Sound of Freedom, you are covering the cost of actual movie tickets for someone who would not otherwise be able to see the film. 

With the success of His Only Son, Angel Studios proved to the theatrical industry that this Pay it Forward model surpassed expectations. When you Pay it Forward, you are part of a movement in history to share stories that amplify light.

 

What happens if all tickets are not claimed?

If there are any funds remaining after the theatrical run, they will be used to pay for streaming Sound of Freedom in the Angel Studios app. Remaining funds from Pay it Forward may also be used to help the filmmaker create additional content.

 

How can I join the fight to end child trafficking?

Seeing the film is the first step in spreading awareness about child trafficking. Get tickets if you have not yet seen Sound of Freedom. If you can't pay for your tickets, you can get free ticketsthanks to the generosity of others.

Consider Paying it Forward to allow others to watch it for free and join a historical movement to promote stories that amplify light.

Visit angel.com/blog/sound-of-freedom to read more about how you can join the fight to end child trafficking.

 

Can I promote this on my TV station?

Yes! Use these clips to promote Sound of Freedom on your station: Sound of Freedom TV. Please do not edit these materials.

 

How do I book a private theater?

Follow this guide to book a private screening of Sound of Freedom.

 

When will Sound of Freedom be released?

Sound of Freedom will be exclusively in theaters on July 4.

Edited October 25, 2025 by Calm

[Calm]

This is from a Vice article in 2012.  My guesss is the first two claims are not reported in the more recent reporting because of lack of evidence.

Quote

According to a source with knowledge of the investigation, among the matters being looked into are whether OUR operators have engaged in sexual acts with human trafficking victims; whether operators have been intoxicated while on missions; whether OUR operations have created demand for trafficking victims; and whether OUR has committed human trafficking itself by enticing people who were not previously traffickers with large sums of money. 

A spokesperson for OUR denied all these claims, but they are consistent with what people who have worked with and for OUR have told VICE World News, and with our previous reporting on OUR's overseas missions. A volunteer being trained for these missions, we reported, said he and other trainees were told of operators who had been "tempted" by trafficking victims during those training sessions. Sources who had taken part in missions described operators trawling bars and clubs flashing money in quests to find traffickers. People who took part in OUR missions and independent experts raised concerns that the operations could potentially create demand for trafficking. OUR said in a statement that "Our standard operating procedures for both operations and aftercare are clear: at no time are we to create demand for trafficking victims."

“volunteer being trained for these missions, we reported, said he and other trainees were told of operators who had been "tempted" by trafficking victims during those training sessions.”

I read this account, I can’t remember if I linked to it, but the phrasing used from an LDS POV referred to someone who had been tempted, but had restrained themselves by telling the adviser their conflict and the adviser removing the volunteer from the sting before anything inappropriate had happened (a very Mormon tactic), though the guy sharing the info was under the impression they were saying at least some of the volunteers had strayed and OUR had protected them by getting them out of there before the police came or they were noticed…which is possible, but being tempted and asking to  leave the site of the temptation usually means among Saints they are trying to resist the temptation.

Otoh, Paul Hutchinson’s accounts sound like he created a demand for minors that had to then be trafficked while the female volunteer who wrote up a slate article linked to earlier said she confirmed that at least two children were just taken in order to meet the demand of the OUR “johns”, so I will be surprised if this accusation is not confirmed.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8j3v/operation-underground-railroad-criminal-investigation-human-trafficking-tim-ballard-jim-caviezel-qanon

Edited September 19, 2023 by Calm

[Calm]

Also from the link, some background:

Quote

OUR sits at the center of a sprawling web of concerns, among them Children Need Families, an adoption group founded by Ballard's wife Katherine. (The Ballards are two of the three “team members” listed for Children Need Families; Tim Ballard’s job title is listed as "board member.” There do not appear to be any other board members. A Children Need Families donation page leads to one managed and controlled by OUR. Two messages sent through CNF’s comment form were not responded to.) Several are for-profit businesses. One is Deacon, Inc., which OUR says "employs independent contractors to perform tactical and security operations." As VICE World News has previously reported, Deacon has no website or phone number, and its officers, according to Nevada business records, are all executives at OUR. Another is Underground XFit LLC, a Crossfit gym, a for-profit subsidiary of OUR. Another is the Nazarene Fund, an organization founded by Glenn Beck which at the time was, as VICE World News has previously reported, an LLC—not a nonprofit—that was a subsidiary of OUR, according to tax records. (A spokesperson for Mercury One, Beck's charitable organization, which originally founded the Nazarene Fund, did not respond to a request for comment.) Ballard himself, meanwhile—who wrote a book called Slave Stealers and is listed as an executive producer of a planned TV show with the same name—is connected with a Utah-based business called Slave Stealers, LLC. 

Quote

American Crime Journal, which has extensively covered OUR, published a piece in April in which editor Damion Moore reported that investigators were particularly interested in a photo of a whiteboard drawn by Ballard that had been shared with them, which takes the form of a diagram laying out connections among these entities. It was the result of an August 2019 meeting at which, ACJ reported, "Ballard laid out a secret plan to monetize his child sex slave rescue nonprofit [...] and proselytize prospective converts for the Mormon church" to close associates. 

VICE World News independently obtained a photo of this whiteboard. At the top of it is a box marked "Timothyballard.com—Slave Stealers," which is delineated as "for-profit."…

 

[Calm]

A side issue of these raid and rescue attempts:

Quote

On top of all this, OUR has been faced with a smaller, though still significant, legal issue as well: Court records show that OUR recently agreed to pay out $100,000, without admitting wrongdoing, in the case of a man swept up in a raid it funded, who was falsely tarred as a child abuser in its press materials. 

The man, Quentin Parker, was arrested in a 2019 sting conducted by the Washington State Patrol, which OUR says it partially funded and heavily publicized. Parker was arrested as part of Operation Net Nanny, a series of raids where WSP officers pretended to be underage victims on social media to entrap would-be child predators. Parker and his wife allege that the arrest and the ways it was publicized by OUR and Washington State Patrol had far-reaching consequences into their personal lives. Among other things, they alleged in their lawsuit that a doctor seeing them for fertility treatments suspended those treatments after seeing the press releases….

In a statement, OUR told VICE World News, “OUR donated to Washington’s Missing and Exploited Children Taskforce pursuant to a specific Washington law—just like any other person is entitled to do. As OUR noted in its offer to settle the lawsuit, OUR settled solely because of the enormous expense and inconvenience that continuing to defend against the plaintiffs’ misguided claims would have caused OUR to incur.”)

Net Nanny proved exceedingly controversial, and a stinging New York Times Magazine article pointed out that neither the WSP nor OUR could exactly back up their claims that they’d succeeded in taking dangerous predators off the street. Journalist Michael Winerip wrote that of the 271 Net Nanny cases he could identify and trace through court documents, “none involved physical contact with a real child.” A 2017 study of similar raids across the country found that 87% of the men arrested had no record of “prior, concurrent or subsequent” convictions. 

As the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported, Parker, a 32-year-old active duty soldier on a military base near Tacoma, stated in his lawsuit that he answered a message on a dating app believing he was going to engage in fetish roleplay with adult women. Instead, when he arrived to meet the women, he was arrested, interrogated, and charged was charged with two counts of second-degree attempted rape of a child, charges that court records show were dropped in March 2020. In a February 2019 press release from OUR, he was identified as one of the “dangerous sexual predators” that its funding helped “remove from the streets.”  

That press release remains online; OUR subsequently updated it on April 22, 2021 to note that Parker’s charges were dismissed. (Curiously, the updated press release also misspells his name.) But the organization admitted in court filings that it did not update the release until being served with Parker’s lawsuit, arguing it didn’t know the complaint against him had been dismissed. In the meantime, Parker said in his lawsuit, the accusations “tainted and destroyed” his life.

Quote

Soon after Ballard and Caveizel’s disastrous virtual appearance in Oklahoma, Meg Conley made an appearance of her own. It wasn’t easy for her: “They’re terrifying,” she said recently, with a sort of laugh. She meant OUR, an organization she previously championed, and which involved her in an incident that still haunts her today.   

Conley is a writer who runs a popular newsletter about her life as a mother, gender roles, and the unwaged labor of the home. For years, she had a story that was weighing on her, which she finally published in Slate in early May. It was about the time Operation Underground Railroad brought her on a sex trafficking raid in the Dominican Republic. The raid, she wrote, was conducted with a bizarre lack of professionalism, and she was unconvinced that children supposedly rescued in it had actually been trafficked before OUR came on the scene.

“I was told two of the children had been trafficked for the first time that day,” she wrote. "It didn’t seem to occur to anyone that OUR may have created a demand. After the sting, I asked people on the jump team where the 26 kids were taken. I was given only vague answers. Aftercare wasn’t really their focus, I was told, but they partnered with people who did it well.” (Conley’s concerns echo those of sources VICE World News interviewed for our previous story on OUR’s international operations.) 

After coming home, Conley told VICE World News, and struggling to understand what she’d just been part of, “I was very quiet for a while. I had to do some inner work to understand what preconceived notions had like made me vulnerable to the point where I made other people vulnerable.” In 2017, she’d carefully started sharing some concerns: that the organization was appropriating Harriet Tubman’s legacy with its name and that it didn’t seem to be “survivor-centered,” from her perspective. “But then I’d say, ‘I'm hesitant to say more than that because if one child is saved, I don't know that the organization's problematic nature is something I can comment on.’” Conley felt like a “privileged white woman” who didn’t have the right to speak out. Besides that, she said, “I was still trying to understand if they were actually helping anyone despite the harm they were causing.” “

[Calm]

More on Paul Hutchison:

Quote

Even as cracks begin to form in OUR’s public image, though, and even as people affiliated with the organization begin to depart, the OUR model is proving itself to be endlessly reproducible. A number of high-level OUR staffers and collaborators have quietly departed the organization in the past year, only to immediately form their own anti-sex trafficking groups. One of them is Paul Hutchinson, who recently formed a group called the Child Liberation Foundation. A similarly named organization, the Child Liberation Fund, was one of the entities listed on the whiteboard that authorities are said to be investigating. (It’s unclear if Hutchinson and Ballard still maintain a business relationship; Hutchinson did not respond to requests for comment from VICE World News, and multiple emails sent to people at the Child Liberation Foundation bounced back.)  

https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8j3v/operation-underground-railroad-criminal-investigation-human-trafficking-tim-ballard-jim-caviezel-qanon

This organization appears to use alternative therapies as a big part of its program.

https://web.liberatechildren.org/khira-gabriella-hutchinson/

Quote

Certified Relational Skills Trauma Practitioner from Somatapia

· Certified Holographic Sound Practitioner from Holographic Sound Healing

· Certified Usui Reiki Master from Holy Fire, Sun and Light Quantum Reiki.

· Sanga Practitioner from Sangafit.

· Certified Master intuitive sound practitioner from Beauty Perspective.

Quote

She works with her CLF team to heal the hearts and minds of those affected by trafficking. Under her leadership ‘Liberating Wings’ has been created. This is a set of programs that align more traditional trauma healing with a total wellness model by using science proven healing methods, such as gardening, agriculture, animal tending, art and music learning, personal defense, breathing and midwife and childcare. All within the context of a culturally driven approach that addresses personal and ethnic choices. Another program, Healing Hands brings in over two dozen alternative medicine practices using certified volunteers to address the root causes of trauma. 

https://web.liberatechildren.org/hada-vanessa/

Quote

Thank you for expressing interest in being a healing hand. We recognize the importance of a holistic approach when it comes to healing trauma to fully release it from the body, mind, and spirit. This division is open to our healers who are trauma-informed and have programs and/or services that they feel our trauma survivors can benefit from. Some examples can be the following: 

· Exercise
· Ayurveda
· Yoga
· Tai Chi
· Qi Gong
· Somatic Experiencing
· Art Therapy
· Sound Healing Therapy
· Traditional Chinese Medicine
· Emotion Code Release
· Light Therapy
· Any other healing modality

· Massage Therapy
· Hypnotherapy
· Acupuncture
· Acupressure
· Breathwork
· Meditation
· Hypnosis
· Past Life Regression
· Aromatherapy
· Herbal Therapy
· Reiki Healing
· Nutrition

These practices are essential tools that we can use to release those underlying dense trapped emotions, commence in self-forgiveness, understand trauma processes, and reclaim sovereignty. 

https://web.liberatechildren.org/healing-hands/

Edited September 19, 2023 by Calm

[ttribe]

Looks like OUR has acknowledged the accuracy of the Hutchinson story.

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by ttribe

[mtomm]

Pretty soon we should be hearing about AG Reyes doing some stuff. 

And then this will be political and church mushed together more than it already is. 

Sigh. 

 

[smac97]

KSL: Ex-Operation Underground Railroad CEO Tim Ballard calls sex misconduct allegations 'baseless'

Quote

Ballard vehemently denied the accusations in a new statement released Tuesday through the SPEAR Fund, a separate nonprofit working to "end human trafficking in our time," for which Ballard has served as a senior adviser since leaving Operation Underground Railroad.

"As with all of the assaults on my character and integrity over many years, the latest tabloid-driven sexual allegations are false. They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children," Ballard said.

"During my time at OUR, I designed strict guidelines for myself and our operators in the field. Sexual contact was prohibited, and I led by example. Given our meticulous attention to this issue, any suggestion of inappropriate sexual contact is categorically false."

Thanks,

-Smac

[teddyaware]

2 hours ago, smac97 said:

KSL: Ex-Operation Underground Railroad CEO Tim Ballard calls sex misconduct allegations 'baseless'

Thanks,

-Smac

As far as I’m concerned, this bold, unequivocal statement from Tim Ballard tells me that there are only 2 possibilities: Either he’s an honest man who’s been telling the truth all along, and what’s happening to him is a deceptive hit job being carried out by some very evil people, or he’s the most audacious sociopath I’ve ever seen, a man totally devoid of conscience.

People who know Tim well say he is indeed an honest man of conscience, and that he’s being unjustly attacked because he happens to be flying directly over the target of some very evil people who will do anything to keep their abominable crimes hidden. You know, like the secret combinations the Book of Mormon prophesies will occur in the last days?

Either way, it’s going to be fascinating to learn if he’s either saint or devil, when and if the incontrovertible truth ever comes out into the open.

Edited September 20, 2023 by teddyaware

[Calm]

3 minutes ago, teddyaware said:

Either he’s an honest man who’s been telling the truth all along, and what’s happening to him is a deceptive hit job being carried out by some very evil people

How do you explain the discrepancies in the stories he has told about the rescues versus what is on record?  Have the records been altered?

Edited September 20, 2023 by Calm

[Tacenda]

This appears to be more recent, oops took it down, same video I shared earlier.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Tacenda

[MiserereNobis]

2 hours ago, teddyaware said:

As far as I’m concerned, this bold, unequivocal statement from Tim Ballard tells me that there are only 2 possibilities: Either he’s an honest man who’s been telling the truth all along, and what’s happening to him is a deceptive hit job being carried out by some very evil people, or he’s the most audacious sociopath I’ve ever seen, a man totally devoid of conscience.

People who know Tim well say he is indeed an honest man of conscience, and that he’s being unjustly attacked because he happens to be flying directly over the target of some very evil people who will do anything to keep their abominable crimes hidden. You know, like the secret combinations the Book of Mormon prophesies will occur in the last days?

Either way, it’s going to be fascinating to learn if he’s either saint or devil, when and if the incontrovertible truth ever comes out into the open.

It doesn't have to black or white, this or that, only 2 possibilities. Most of life is in the grey, with many many possibilities.

[MustardSeed]

23 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

It doesn't have to black or white, this or that, only 2 possibilities. Most of life is in the grey, with many many possibilities.

Agreed.  And the dichotomy presented is really extreme.  

[rodheadlee]

Sorry never mind 

Edited September 20, 2023 by rodheadlee

[The Nehor]

8 hours ago, teddyaware said:

As far as I’m concerned, this bold, unequivocal statement from Tim Ballard tells me that there are only 2 possibilities: Either he’s an honest man who’s been telling the truth all along, and what’s happening to him is a deceptive hit job being carried out by some very evil people, or he’s the most audacious sociopath I’ve ever seen, a man totally devoid of conscience.

This is a ridiculous statement. Someone denying crimes is not proof that they are either a paragon of virtue or the worst person to ever live.

Or he is just a garden variety sleazy guy addicted to fame who is abusing the trust of others to stroke his ego. That type is a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere.

8 hours ago, teddyaware said:

People who know Tim well say he is indeed an honest man of conscience, and that he’s being unjustly attacked because he happens to be flying directly over the target of some very evil people who will do anything to keep their abominable crimes hidden. You know, like the secret combinations the Book of Mormon prophesies will occur in the last days?

Either way, it’s going to be fascinating to learn if he’s either saint or devil, when and if the incontrovertible truth ever comes out into the open.

That would be the LDS version of Q-Anon you are preaching here.

Ugh.

[Stargazer]

The YouTube channel Better Bachelor has weighed in on this situation. He refuses to automatically believe the women accusing Mr. Ballard, and in the spirit of "innocent until proven guilty" wants to see actual proof of misbehavior. He does mention the Church-related misuse of Pres. Ballard's name, but tosses it aside as a "nothing burger" -- in other words, he doesn't care about that aspect. I'm pretty sure BB hasn't been following the whole thing as closely as some of us on the board have, and he is classifying this O.U.R. thing as a "trial by media" and lumps it together with the Russell Brand controversy.

 

[SeekingUnderstanding]

11 hours ago, teddyaware said:

People who know Tim well say he is indeed an honest man of conscience,

Except for Elder Ballard right? That’s a person who knows him well, and that thought he was lacking in character enough to issue a public condemnation. But he’s just president of the quorum of the 12 apostles. And this goes against your personal politics so we know which way you will go. 

Edited September 20, 2023 by SeekingUnderstanding

[halconero]

12 hours ago, teddyaware said:

People who know Tim well say he is indeed an honest man of conscience, and that he’s being unjustly attacked because he happens to be flying directly over the target of some very evil people who will do anything to keep their abominable crimes hidden. You know, like the secret combinations the Book of Mormon prophesies will occur in the last days?

The implication here being that Elder Ballard is one of those very evil people keeping their abominable crimes hidden, right?

I guess I just don’t get why there can’t be a third possibility that Tim Ballard started out as genuinely good man, who, along the way, grew a bit high on his own supply and made some serious errors in moral judgement.

[smac97]

22 minutes ago, halconero said:

The implication here being that Elder Ballard is one of those very evil people keeping their abominable crimes hidden, right?

I guess I just don’t get why there can’t be a third possibility that Tim Ballard started out as genuinely good man, who, along the way, grew a bit high on his own supply and made some serious errors in moral judgement.

There could also be a few other possibilities, namely, that the allegations are an admixture of "true" allegations (some form(s) of misconduct occurred), "false" allegations (some other form(s) of misconduct did not occur), some allegations have been exaggerated/embellished, and/or some allegations are based on ignorance/misunderstanding or being duped.

So far, I think the allegation that Tim Ballard attempted to (mis)appropriate Pres. Ballard's name/reputation (by, for example, listing him as a "silent {partner}" in Slave Stealers, LLC) is looking like it may be borne out by the evidence.  I am less persuaded by the allegations of sexual misconduct, as to date they are entirely based on anonymous hearsay (even multiple hearsay).

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

I'm not sure if this video essay by Lynn Packer has been posted:

Thanks,

-Smac

[Calm]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

I'm not sure if this video essay by Lynn Packer has been posted:

Thanks,

-Smac

Back on Sunday, so understandable you have forgotten.  It is all blurring together for me having read so many articles and watched even a few videos.

You 

[ttribe]

The psychic:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7bpda/operation-underground-railroad-child-rescue-missions-were-based-on-psychic-intelligence

[Calm]

I bet they didn’t call her a psychic, more likely a visionary. 
 

I get why there is a desire among Saints to believe this kind of communication (with dead prophets) is happening, I just wish those prone to accept these claims were much more careful about accepting claims and anything connected with a financial or status benefit for the visionary people should be 1,000 times more cautious. Make sure it isn’t just wishful feelings testifying if the truth. 
 

Hints of Julie Rowe. 
 

Quote

The centrality of Russon to OUR missions is clearly illustrated in the files. One is an investigator’s description of a video apparently taken, to go by the date of a file, ahead of the disastrous mission to find Gardy. Ballard is speaking to a group of men; he assures them that he’s speaking regularly with M. Russell Ballard, a powerful and revered figure in the LDS Church to whom he is not related, about “the whole process and all these miracles,” and that he’s been given a blessing by the apostle. 

In response, one of OUR’s operators, whom VICE News is not naming because he could not be reached for comment, says, “This is the time that we're supposed to be here, specifically, this week. And the Lord doesn't just give one person that, that answer, it's usually through a few people and the Lord told me to call Janet as soon as I got out of the temple.

Two former OUR insiders told investigators that Russon and her psychic visions were a key part of OUR. They were Lopez, a former Navy SEAL who worked with the group on overseas missions and oversaw OUR operations in Haiti, and a former director of development whose name VICE News is withholding at her request. Lopez told investigators that Russon identified specific locations in Haiti where the missing boy was said to be; the former development director added that Russon was solely vouched for by Ballard, who in her telling intimated that M. Russell Ballard was aware that her visions guided OUR’s work.

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Calm

[smac97]

5 minutes ago, ttribe said:

The psychic:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7bpda/operation-underground-railroad-child-rescue-missions-were-based-on-psychic-intelligence

Most evidentiary roads for this claim lead this 2021 VICE article:

Quote

The rescue mission, somewhere on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, was not going well. The anti-trafficking charity Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) had arrived in a remote village seeking a missing child, acting on what founder Tim Ballard had promised was a solid tip from a source. A group from OUR’s so-called “jump team” had entered the village, pretending to be part of a medical team; real medical workers had been hired as cover and were providing actual care to people in the village while the “operators,” as they’re called, quietly surveyed the scene. But the missing child was nowhere to be found. And then, to the dismay of several people on the ground, Ballard produced his source: a psychic medium from Utah.

The child in question was Gardy Mardy, a Haitian boy born in the United States who was nearly three years old when he disappeared from his father Guesno Mardy’s church in Port-au-Prince in December 2009. This was the catalyzing event that led to Ballard founding OUR several years later. By 2014, Ballard and his team of operators—a group he asserts is highly trained and skilled, and mainly comprises former members of law enforcement and the military—descended on Haiti to find Gardy, in the first of several operations. 

Two people who went on one of those missions independently related the same series of events to VICE World News; they requested anonymity to freely discuss a sensitive situation. During the mission where medical care was being used as cover, they said, Ballard, who worked for Homeland Security Investigations and claims to have been a CIA agent before that, had been relaying tips from his source. The person had claimed that many children were being held near this village, and that Gardy was among them. Ballard, both sources said, even called Guesno to tell him that his son was coming home, and summoned him to the village. 

Then, Ballard arrived in Haiti with his unexpected companion.

“Tim shows up with this woman, this very sheltered-looking soccer mom-ish woman from Utah,” one source told VICE World News. “And he’s being very defensive and won’t let anyone talk to her. After a couple days I figured out she’s a f&^%C*g psychic. That’s his f&^%C*g source.”

A second person on the mission said that they, too, had been introduced to the psychic—both people remembered her name as “Janet”—and that her tip, perhaps predictably, did not pan out. 

(When reached by VICE World News, Janet said, "I signed an NDA so I can't answer any of your questions," and recommended we reach out to OUR. A spokesperson for OUR didn’t dispute Janet’s involvement, telling us, “OUR has partnered with Janet, who was referred to OUR by a U.S. law enforcement agency, for some of our top level cases. She has been very successful in helping our rescue efforts alongside our law enforcement partners. Her skillset has long been used by law enforcement and government entities in this line of work.” 

The spokesperson also shared two links: The first was to an abstract of a 1993 paper from the journal Law and Order, which referred to the work of psychics in law enforcement investigations as "controversial," did not endorse their use, and noted that most large police agencies surveyed did not work with psychics, nor did the FBI at the time. The second was a Forbes profile of a different psychic medium who says she works with law enforcement.) 

See also this SL Tribune article:

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It added: “President Ballard never authorized his name, or the name of the church, to be used for Tim’s personal or financial interests.”

According to the documents at the core of the VICE piece, that’s exactly what Tim Ballard did — suggesting he was in close contact with the 94-year-old church leader during rescue operations and implying that the Latter-day Saint apostle was a partner in a business venture built around Tim Ballard’s growing popularity.

There was also the face-palm-y tidbit about Janet Russon, a psychic who would advise Tim Ballard on his operations. I heard from one participant that she would put herself into a sort of trance and point to locations on a map and tell the would-be rescuers where they could find the exploited children. I had not heard, however, that she professed to be communing with the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi. Bizarre stuff.

And this article (summarizing documents from the Davis County Prosecutor's investigative records) :

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According to the documents, Ballard is said to have communicated with a psychic medium named Janet Russon, who claimed to speak to the prophet Nephi, a figure from the Book of Mormon who has been dead for thousands of years.

These communications allegedly served as a source of "intel" for O.U.R.'s paramilitary missions aimed at rescuing children from human trafficking.

The ties between Tim Ballard and the revered Elder Ballard, an Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles within the Church, were described as numerous and occasionally bizarre in the documents.

 

Some allegations even suggest that Tim Ballard and an associate represented Elder Ballard as a partner in a for-profit business called Slave Stealers.

This venture was pitched as a means to exert control over O.U.R. and other non-profits, potentially allowing Tim Ballard to allegedly capitalize on the notoriety gained from his often exaggerated exploits.

The documents further reveal that Tim Ballard claimed that Elder Ballard was closely involved in at least one overseas mission based on information obtained from the psychic medium.

Ballard asserted that the Mormon elder had blessed him and his wife Katherine before the mission and received real-time updates from the field.

Troy Rawlings, a prosecutor in Davis County, Utah, who oversaw the now-closed investigation into O.U.R., stated in an email to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes that he possessed "somewhere around 10,000 pages" of psychic readings conducted by Janet Russon.

These readings included purported communications with the long-deceased prophet Nephi.

Rawlings expressed concerns that donors to O.U.R. would be dismayed to discover that the organization's operational intelligence allegedly relied on a psychic and the words of a dead Mormon prophet.
...

Tim Ballard was reported to have asserted that Elder Ballard was involved in a business venture called Liberty 89, a project linked to restoring America to a covenant with God.

According to the former development director, Tim Ballard had been vocal about Elder Russell Ballard's involvement in this initiative.

"Through the whole process and all these miracles, I have reported back to Elder Ballard at least every month, sometimes more,” he said, per an investigator’s transcript of a recording of one meeting.

“And on the way to the airport last night, I stopped by his house, and Katherine and I spent about an hour with him. And he gave me a very powerful blessing," he added.

These revelations have sent shockwaves through both the Church and the anti-trafficking community, as they raised questions about the credibility of O.U.R.'s missions, its founder's associations, and the role of a psychic in guiding paramilitary operations.

Many are left to grapple with the notion that a nonprofit organization's actions may have been influenced by a seer claiming to communicate with a long-deceased prophet.

"Liberty 89" looks like it is a d/b/a ("Doing Business As") designation for a Utah business (not sure which one).

Thanks,

-Smac