An executive producer of controversial smash hit Sound of Freedom has been accused of fondling the breasts of a young trafficking victim.
This comes just days after Tim Ballard, the anti-trafficking activist whose life inspired the film, denied other allegations of sexual misconduct by seven women.
The accused producer, Paul Hutchinson, allegedly committed the act during a 2016 undercover operation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, at the same time he was working with Ballard at Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).
Hutchinson, an early investor in the surprising hit, which has s has scored a domestic box office haul of more than $183 million.
Outstanding movie. I saw it last weekend. #SoundofFreedom pic.twitter.com/QuD2BzaRvY
— AwakenedOne (@Awakened_won) September 12, 2023
The independently crowd-funded movie beat out anticipated franchise sequels Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Fast X, domestically this year.
According to VICE, Hutchinson touched the girl’s breasts while on a human trafficking sting.
The outlet discovered the alleged transgression while reporting on an investigation into OUR and Ballard.
The circumstances leading up to the incident are unclear, but VICE claims that the act was video-recorded by OUR, an organization dedicated to combating modern-day slavery and sex trafficking.
VICE insisted that Huchinson knew the girl was underage, while he told Mexican police in a sworn affidavit that he thought she was of legal age.
The bombshell report also claimed that Hutchinson did not adhere to “best practices” during his investigations into human trafficking.
Fighting human trafficking and pedophilia is the only reason Tim Ballard is being persecuted by the left…
This shit has to stop. pic.twitter.com/ATJpCuWNRX
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) September 19, 2023
The outlet alleges that he sometimes posed as a sex tourist in search of young girls, requesting them to be “mas fresca” (younger and fresher) than adults.
Hutchinson, however, denies any wrongdoing, just as Ballard has.
Ballard, a former CIA agent who founded OUR in 2013, is facing allegations of pressuring women while on missions to rescue children.
According to VICE sources, Ballard allegedly coerced women into sharing a bed with him or showering together, claiming it was necessary to convince traffickers that they were married.
He also was accused of sending at least one woman a photo of himself in his underwear, adorned with fake tattoos.
The scandal came to light when an employee from O.U.R. filed a sexual harassment complaint against Ballard.
This prompted an internal investigation into his actions and operational tactics, according to a letter OUR sent to donors over the summer.
As a result, other women came forward with similar accounts, painting a disturbing picture of deceit, manipulation, and coercion.
The letter stated that Ballard had been grooming and manipulating multiple women for years, with the intention of coercing them into engaging in sexual acts.
The missive described how Ballard used the pretext of “going where it takes and doing whatever it takes” to save the life of a child.
The circumstances surrounding Ballard’s departure from OUR remain unclear due to agreements made between the organization’s board and lawyers.
These agreements have prevented executives from discussing the specifics of Ballard’s exit, making it difficult for the organization to counter what the referred to in the letter as his “false narratives.”
Meanwhile, Ballard, who is reportedly considering a run for the Senate, has vehemently denied the allegations.
At a recent rally in Boston, he declared, “It’s not true, nothing you hear is true.”