SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah State Crime Lab has matched Tim Ballard's DNA to a sperm sample found on an alleged victim's skirt, according to court documents filed Monday by the plaintiff.
Ballard is the founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, an organization dedicated to stopping human trafficking. He was removed from the organization after an internal investigation into several complaints. He is currently facing four civil lawsuits and several criminal investigations.
Celeste Borys was Ballard's executive assistant. She is one of several women who has accused Ballard of sexual assault and reported incidents to law enforcement.
She said Ballard tricked her, and others, into acting out sexual situations – claiming it was all part of an undercover technique to save child sex slaves.
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According to Borys' attorneys, a sergeant with the Utah County Sheriff's Office told them about the "100% match of Ballard's DNA" in June, but the sergeant would not release verification paperwork because he did not want to negatively impact the ongoing criminal investigation.
“As a sex assault victim, Plaintiff believes she is entitled to the results.”
In support of her claim, Borys' attorneys also released text messages with the Utah County Sheriff's Office sergeant.
The attorneys also wrote a letter to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill and Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray, arguing Borys "wants to obtain these results before they could possibly disappear."
"It is known that Ballard has had a cozy relationship with the Utah County Sheriff's Office in the past, which was bragged about by Ballard to Celeste quite often," they wrote.
A spokesperson for Gill said he does not have jurisdiction to act on the case.
Several months ago, Ballard's psychic – Janet Russon – released a podcast explaining how the DNA might be on Borys' skirt because the two shared a suitcase. Russon was also named as a defendant in several lawsuits. She was paid tens of thousands of dollars by Ballard and OUR for her psychic intel, a practice that the nonprofit insists is no longer in line with its current policies.
Borys stated she has never shared a suitcase with Ballard.
So far, UCSO has declined to comment.
The agency has kept its investigation into Ballard extremely close to the vest. Earlier this year, the Utah State Records Committee was "disgusted" to learn UCSO refused to release public records related to the case.
So far, Ballard's team of attorneys have declined to answer whether they feel the report is false. They have also declined to comment on whether Ballard has been excommunicated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Tainting an ongoing investigation to desperately try to generate some PR is consistent with the other illegal and unethical behavior that has been a hallmark of the Borys case from the beginning -- and a reason the whole case is now in jeopardy," wrote Chad Kolton, a spokesperson for Ballard. "We'll wait for the court's judgment on their actions and for law enforcement to complete its investigation, if that's even possible now."