The cast and crew of Sound of Freedom have so far remained silent on the real-life subject of their film Tim Ballard, portrayed by Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel. Filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde did not respond to a request for comment and neither did Angel Studios.

Ballard, the founder of anti-child-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad, regularly embarked on undercover overseas missions to rescue children from 2013 until this year, when he quietly left the company. According to Vice, he had women pose as his wife on these missions and would coerce them into sharing a bed or showering with him, saying that these actions would fool child traffickers. An employee who worked with O.U.R. overseas also filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ballard.

Tim Ballard issued a statement on the allegations, saying, “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. During my time at O.U.R., 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.”

O.U.R. also released a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, saying, “Tim Ballard resigned from O.U.R. on June 22, 2023. He has permanently separated from O.U.R. O.U.R. is dedicated to combating sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organization. O.U.R. retained an independent law firm to conduct a comprehensive investigation of all relevant allegations, and O.U.R. continues to assess and improve the governance of the organization and protocols for its operations.”

O.U.R. has become more prominent since the release of Sound of Freedom, which made $182 million domestically and $210 million worldwide.