St. George • Embattled anti-child-trafficking advocate Tim Ballard is not, and never has been, a partner in a St. George nonprofit’s effort to raise $50 million to build a colonial-era village in Washington County.
That’s the message officials with United We Pledge, who are leading the effort to build Liberty Village on 40 acres in Hurricane, want to convey about Ballard, the founder and former head of Operation Underground Rescue.
Liberty Village, which is slated for completion sometime near America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, will feature replicas of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, George Washington’s Mount Vernon and other buildings that played a prominent role in America’s founding. It will also involve volunteer costumed actors and interpreters portraying the nation’s Founding Fathers.
Shortly after conservative media personality Glenn Beck and other dignitaries broke ground on the village in July 2022, United We Pledge President Dennis Leavitt told The Salt Lake Tribune that Ballard was helping draft its historical curriculum that would be shared with supporters.
Leavitt said Ballard, who is an amateur history buff, was also working with the organization and Latter-day Saint folk artist and puzzle-maker Eric Dowdle to publish a “Bible of American History,” which would consist of 250 stories that detail God’s miraculous intervention in the creation and preservation of America.
“United We Pledge seeks to acknowledge factual events from American history that identify the blessings, assistance, and divine providence of a supreme being in the establishment of this nation,” according to the nonprofit’s website. “United We Pledge is actively engaged in assisting in the creation of the Bible of American History project led by Eric Dowdle and Tim Ballard to reveal the presence of God in our nation’s founding.”
Ballard’s role, according to United We Pledge, was to compile the stories for the book, while Dowdle would illustrate and do the calligraphy for the text. A copy of the book was to be presented to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which Congress set up to inspire Americans to participate in the nation’s 250th birthday celebration. Another copy was proposed to be housed at the Mount Vernon replica at Liberty Village.
In addition, Ballard was a featured speaker at United We Pledge’s inaugural “A Patriotic Tribute to America,” an Independence Day celebration the nonprofit hosted in St. George on July 3, 2021, at which he regaled listeners about the role of faith in America’s creation and talked about his and OUR’s effort to rescue women and children who were the victims of sex-trafficking.
Persona non grata
More than a year later, much has changed. Once considered a rising star and a possible successor to Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Ballard and his public image have taken a major hit as revelations have surfaced over the past several weeks that have cast a cloud over his character.
This week, six women and one man have filed suit against Ballard, accusing him of exploiting the women’s desire to help sex-trafficking victims and assaulting them. That follows a rare public rebuke from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has denounced him for exploiting his friendship with M. Russell Ballard (no relation), acting president of the faith’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, by misusing the senior church leader’s name to bolster his business interests.
Moreover, the faith has removed Ballard’s books from its Deseret Book online catalog and stores and other church-owned bookstores. Some historians have also weighed in, blasting Ballard’s works that attempt to link the Founding Fathers with core Latter-day Saint figures, scriptures and doctrine as being more hagiography than history.
Ballard has denied the allegations.
Relationship greatly exaggerated
Leavitt said his organization currently has no dealings or relationship with Ballard. That’s not a matter of the nonprofit distancing itself from Ballard, he added, but a reflection of the fact that the organization and the author and anti-sex trafficking crusader were never close to begin with.
When he spoke about Ballard’s role in drafting the curriculum more than a year ago, Leavitt attributed what he said to a matter of “semantics.” Ballard, he continued, played no part in writing the curriculum for the free history lessons on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that the nonprofit is sharing with supporters as part of its United We Pledge Academy.
Leavitt said Ballard was involved, however tangentially, with United We Pledge and Dowdle in compiling and drafting stories for the “Bible of American History” but said the project and Ballard’s involvement were primarily Dowdle’s idea. Moreover, he added, United We Pledge never had a contract with Ballard, no money changed hands and the project never came to fruition.
“We had an extremely limited, almost nonexistent relationship with Tim Ballard …,” he said. “At one point, we were exploring participating in and supporting the ‘Bible of American History’ but it’s a project that never materialized.”
Ballard declined to comment. Dowdle could not be reached for his response.
Washington County proclaimed ‘America’s County’
United We Pledge enjoys strong support from Washington County commissioners, who recently proclaimed Washington County as “America’s County” and are donating nearly $1 million to help finance the construction of a replica of the famed Boston Green Dragon Tavern, a gathering point for Paul Revere, John Hancock and others during the War of Independence.
“Anytime we can use our platform to help educate people on the founding of America … we will always do so,” Washington County Commissioner Adam Snow said. “Each of us [on the commission] works with United We Pledge and Liberty Village, so we are very excited about the project.”
Leavitt said the purpose of Liberty Village, which will be modeled after the colonial-style American Village in Montevallo, Alabama, is to unite Americans and instill greater reverence for the Constitution and fidelity to core constitutional values such as freedom, family and faith.
Work is already underway on the first phase of the project, which includes completing a master plan and installing a water well. The second phase involving the construction of several replicas of historical residences and trade buildings is projected to be finished in July 2024. Construction on replicas of Independence Hall, Mount Vernon and other large historically significant buildings is part of phase three and is targeted for completion by July 2026. The fourth and final phase, projected to commence that same month, will add monuments, museums and other amenities to the village.
Correction: This article was updated to clarify the number of people who have sued Tim Ballard.
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) The site of the proposed Liberty Village development south of Hurricane.