Amended lawsuit against Tim Ballard accuses Utah AG Sean Reyes of witness tampering

SALT LAKE CITY — Five women who accused Tim Ballard of sexual misconduct allege in a new court filing that Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes tried to protect the founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad against complaints filed against him and the organization.

The women on Thursday filed an amended complaint in a civil lawsuit brought Oct. 9, claiming that Reyes served as “de facto general counsel” to Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-child trafficking organization. Reyes is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit and denies the allegations.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings began investigating Operation Underground Railroad after receiving complaints that the organization was taking credit for work performed by others, according to the lawsuit.

“Upon learning of these complaints, Attorney General Reyes would step in, and rather than investigate what OUR and Tim Ballard were doing, would intimidate the complainants,” the lawsuit claims.

In a lengthy statement to KSL.com, the Utah Attorney General’s Office said the allegations that it withheld an investigation into Ballard or his organization are “completely baseless.”

“AG Reyes categorically denies that he ever intimidated any witness or attempted in any way to interfere or keep witnesses from testifying or cooperating with an investigation by the Davis County attorney or any other agency,” the statement says. “These allegations … are false, defamatory per se and unethical as they are based on pure speculation and have no basis in fact.”

Please read Bridger Beal-Cvetko’s full story on KSL.com.