FOLLOW US

Last month, anti-human trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), along with its founder Tim Ballard, discovered themselves on the receiving ends of lawsuits from multiple women and one couple.

The allegations in question charged Ballard with using a dubious "couples ruse" to sexually abuse women and subject them to preventable dangers during international ops. Meanwhile, Ballard's accusers also claim that OUR knew what he was getting up to, yet failed to intervene on their behalf and stop his abuse.

Now, another person is being dragged into the situation, that being Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. In an amended version of the lawsuit against Ballard (the one initiated on October 9), Reyes stands accused of covering up the bad behavior of Ballard and OUR.

A deep dive into allegations against the Utah attorney general

On Thursday, the lawsuit's plaintiffs stated that Reyes worked as the "de facto general counsel" of OUR. This comes as Reyes is also on record having developed a very close personal friendship with Ballard.

https://twitter.com/AdamHerbets/status/1720526033974391075

However, the women bringing sexual abuse allegations against Ballard say that Reyes' work with OUR took a dark turn.

According to their version of events, the Utah attorney general deliberately interfered with the investigation of Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings back in 2020. Rawlings, at that time, was looking into reports that OUR assumed credit for the anti-human trafficking work of other organizations.

Here is where the women say Reyes intimidated people complaining about OUR, in addition to personally emailing Ballard with information about the complaints made.

https://twitter.com/AdamHerbets/status/1720530226479026568

A formal response from the Utah attorney general

Amid the amended lawsuit, Reyes' office in Utah responded, issuing a swift denial.

According to the attorney general, he never engaged in witness intimidation or tried to stop the Davis County attorney from investigating OUR or Ballard. In further remarks, Reyes claimed the women asserting otherwise are making "defamatory" and "false" allegations against him.

https://twitter.com/AdamHerbets/status/1720563159327473884

Finally, Reyes contends that Rawlings himself acknowledges there's no evidence of the Utah attorney general (or his office) working to silence and/or scare witnesses bringing claims against Ballard or OUR.

https://twitter.com/AdamHerbets/status/1720572922866385374

This story is continuously developing. USA Herald will cover additional updates as they emerge.

https://twitter.com/AdamHerbets/status/1720600080674337132