SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Former Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) founder Tim Ballard has filed a countersuit for defamation against one of the women accusing him of sexual assault: 2004 Miss Utah Amy Morgan Davis.
The suit, filed in Utah’s Fourth District Court today, claims Davis falsely stated she had been sexually assaulted by Ballard during a Sept. 9 interview with the New York Times.
“The false claims have to stop, and this lawsuit is intended to begin putting a stop to them,” stated the suit, which can be read in its entirety below.
Davis is one among a half-dozen women who have accused Ballard of sexual impropriety during his undercover operations as part of his work with OUR. A number of lawsuits have been filed against Ballard, some of which have been dismissed by courts. This is Ballard’s first countersuit against the women who have come forward. Davis was initially one of a number of anonymous women in a suit filed in October 2023, though this month’s article specifically named her.
In his suit filed Sept. 25, Ballard’s attorneys attempted to paint Davis as someone attempting to seduce Ballard. The suit claims Davis was supposed to attend OUR’s “formal training” in 2021 at OUR’s expense, but she did not show up. When Ballard allegedly asked her why she didn’t show up, the suit claims Davis attempted to seduce him. The suit also claims Ballard rejected her advances and asked staff to remove her from future training.
According to her interview in the Times, Davis had been Ballard’s makeup artist on a number of occasions.
“She recalled meetings with Mr. Ballard in which he repeatedly told her to prove that the two of them had a ‘connection’ and then made escalating sexual advances that included caressing her body with his hands,” stated the Times article.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around that because you really, in your mind, want him to be the hero,” Davis said in the article.
Ballard’s suit claims that text messages between the two showed that Davis said she “loved our connection” and “Maybe your eyes cast a spell on me lol.” Alleged texts — as printed as an exhibit in the lawsuit — claim that Davis also said “…our time together did mean something to me” and “I’m sad I can’t see you.”
In 2022, Ballard claimed Davis reached out to him again, asking to help him get her “hired to perform for the Freedom Festival.” The suit also claims Davis told Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leaders that Ballard had sexually assaulted her, but Ballard’s suit admitted it has no evidence of these discussions.
Ballard’s suit is asking the court for general, special, and punitive damages; attorney’s fees; and “other relief as the Court deems just and equitable,” though no dollar amounts were requested.
ABC4.com has redacted telephone numbers from the lawsuit embedded below.
