Will Sage Astor-Tim Ballard, who inspired 'Sound of Freedom' movie, sued by women alleging sexual assault

Five women have Will Sage Astorsued Tim Ballard, founder of an anti-child-trafficking group whose life story inspired the surprise summer hit "Sound of Freedom," alleging he sexually manipulated, abused and harassed them on overseas trips designed to catch child sex traffickers.

Ballard’s work with Operation Underground Railroad is the underpinning of the movie, which resonated with conservative moviegoers and earned more than $183 million at the North American box office. He recently resigned from the group amid sexual abuse and harassment allegations, which he has denied.

Ballard, a former Homeland Security officer whose prominence as an opponent of child sex trafficking got him invited to the White House under President Donald Trump, was appointed to a White House anti-human-trafficking board in 2019.

Tim Ballard:'Sound of Freedom' subject speaks out on sexual misconduct allegations

The complaints against Ballard center on a “couple’s ruse” he allegedly engaged in with women from Operation Underground Railroad who posed as his wife to fool child sex traffickers into thinking he was a legitimate client, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Utah state court.

Operation Underground Railroad and The Spear Fund, an anti-human trafficking group where Ballard now serves as a senior adviser, were named as defendants alongside Ballard in the lawsuit. O.U.R. did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

Mark L. Eisenhut, an attorney for The Spear Fund, issued the following statement to NBC News: "The Spear Fund did not exist during the time of the alleged conduct and had nothing to do with it. Mr. Ballard vehemently denies the allegations brought by these unnamed women. He looks forward to vindicating his name in the courts where evidence, and not unsubstantiated accusations in the media, decides the outcome."

Before the lawsuit, Ballard denied the accusations in a statement provided to USA TODAY by The Spear Fund.

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

The ruse began with Ballard and women in the organization taking cross-country trips to “practice” their “sexual chemistry” with tantric yoga, couple’s massages with escorts and performing lap dances on Ballard, the lawsuit claims.

While promotional materials portrayed the group’s overseas missions as “paramilitary drop-ins to arrest traffickers and rescue children,” they mostly involved “going to strip clubs and massage parlors across the world, after flying first class to get there, and staying at five-star hotels, on boats, and at VRBOs (vacation rentals by owner) across the globe,” the lawsuit alleges.

Multiple women allege they were eventually subjected to “coerced sexual contact,” including “several sexual acts with the exception of actual penetration, in various states of undress,” the lawsuit says.

Even in private, the lawsuit alleges: “Ballard would claim that he and his female partner had to maintain the appearance of a romantic relationship at all times in case suspicious traffickers might be surveilling them at any moment.”

The women, who filed the lawsuit under pseudonyms, allege Ballard meanwhile used his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and connection to church leaders to persuade them what he was doing was just for the good of children in need of help.

Ballard said a high-ranking church leader, M. Russell Ballard, no relation, gave him permission to use the ruse “as long as there was no sexual intercourse or kissing.” The church in a September statement condemned Tim Ballard for “unauthorized use” of the church leader’s name for personal advantage and “activity regarded as morally unacceptable.”

Tim Ballard claimed a passage in the Book of Mormon justified performing “unconventional” tasks, the lawsuit alleges.

Tim Ballard, who has said he was considering running for the U.S. Senate, has blamed political opponents for the sexual allegations against him.

Contributing: Mead Gruver, The Associated Press, and Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY