As criticism of O.U.R.’s trafficking claims intensified, Tim Ballard doubled down on disputed statistics, defended widely challenged narratives, and continued using alarming figures to promote fundraising and public awareness campaigns
Lynn Packer reports about Operation Underground Railroad’s use of misleading, outdated and false numbers to solicit donations. It examines OUR President Tim Ballard’s attempt to refute an article published by The Atlantic in December 2021 titled “The Great (Fake) Child-Sex-Traffic Epidemic.” The story talks about anti-child-sex-trafficking advocates who mention “outdated and hard-to-parse figures about the number of children who go ‘missing’ in the United States every year.” Ballard accuses the magazine of dishonest reporting that puts children’s lives at risk. However, this episode shows that Ballard’s numbers are suspect and that he’s perpetuating the same myths that sparked the White Slavery frenzy of the early 1900s. Plus breaking news: • The FBI apparently closes its investigation into Operation Underground Railroad without criminal charges. • And Coco Berthmann—the subject of two of my YouTube videos reports— who claimed to have been sex trafficked by her mother, is charged with fraud.
Editor’s Note: Lynn Packer is an award-winning investigative reporter, legal consultant and author of “Lying for the Lord: The Paul H. Dunn Stories“. Lynn graduated from Utah State University with a degree in broadcast journalism. He served in the United States Army from ’68 through ’70 in Vietnam, as a television news anchor and producer for the Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) Quang Tri detachment. He was awarded the Bronze Star. For 15 years Mr. Packer reported for KSL Television News in Salt Lake City. For ten years Lynn was an adjunct professor teaching journalism at Brigham Young University and the University of Dortmund.
Resources & Further Reading
Human Trafficking Statistics Explained – American Crime Journal |
Polaris Project is “Deeply Concerned” Over O.U.R.’s “Numbers Game” – American Crime Journal |
Las Vegas Metropolitan PD Human Trafficking Task Force calls out O.U.R. – American Crime Journal |
From Myth to Meaning: Taking Back the Conversation on Child Trafficking – American Crime Journal |
Her Name Is Delia: The Survivor Behind O.U.R.’s “Liliana” Story – American Crime Journal |
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