Glenn Beck’s Audience Donated Over $1 Million to Fight Child Sex Trafficking. Here Are Some of the Kids They Saved.
Last November, a friend of Glenn Beck’s revealed that he was leading a double life as a government agent who rescues children from sex slavery. He said that while the government is doing noble work, it is by no means doing as much as it can, and that’s why he started Operation Underground Railroad.
Comprised of former U.S. Military and intelligence officers, the private organization is able to move rapidly and efficiently to save the countless children who are slipping through the cracks. After Beck spoke about Operation Underground Railroad in November, his audience donated over $300,000 in a single day, and over $1 million total.
On Tuesday, Beck was able to reveal the identity of his friend as popular author Tim Ballard. He was also able to show his audience some of what their donations have accomplished so far.
A family made Beck and his audience a thank-you video, and Beck was too moved to speak after watching it. Eventually, he hesitantly asked whether the children in the video were some of the ones who had been rescued.
“The little girl, the 6-year-old girl, she was being trafficked,” Ballard said. “We got her out. The mom had been trafficked as a child, so it was this vicious cycle. We ended the cycle. It’s over for them.”
Ballard said most people have no concept of “how real and how huge” of an issue child sex trafficking is. Nearly two million children are trapped as sex slaves, and roughly 90% of them fall out of U.S. jurisdiction.
Ballard said the criminals “never look like bad guys,” and are absolutely everywhere. He even showed Beck a map that can pinpoint where child rape videos are being shared in real time, and it is horrific. For privacy reasons, the map showed only vague geographical areas, but law enforcement has access to the exact addresses. Beck said he’s seen a zoomed-in image of the affluent area where he lives in Texas, and it was terrifying.
Ballard believes the only way the horrific practice will be stopped is if the public rises up and demands an end to it. He believes many have become complacent, as they did during the 1800s, and need to be awoken to the horrors of what’s happening around them.
That’s where men like Gerald Molen — the producer of hits like Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Minority Report — and Mark Mabry, the creative director at Glenn Beck’s company, come in. Both are working to expose the trade to as many as they possibly can.
Mabry even acted as a “buyer” in one of Ballard’s sting operations, so he would know exactly what goes into saving a child.
“I want you to look into the eyes of evil,” Ballard told him. “I want you to hold slavery in your arms in the form of a child, so you can go back and tell the people what we are doing and what the problem is all about.”
You can read part one of an in-depth account of Mabry’s experience here. Stay tuned to TheBlaze for parts two and three.
Mabry described how, in preparing for an operation, he was surprised that not only did he not receive his own hotel room — he didn’t even receive his own bed. He said multiple agents will often share a single room so as not to waste a dollar that was donated.
“These are sacred dollars to us,” Ballard explained. “Because we know what we’re doing, we cut the bureaucracy out, the red tape. We’re lean. We’re mean. We can pull it off.”
Meanwhile, Molen and his team have begun work on a film called “The Abolitionists” that will highlight the horrors of the trade, and what happens when people stand to stop it. Rescue operations are being accompanied by film crews with the latest camera and audio technology to record the real-life rescues.
No donations to Operation Underground Railroad are being used to finance the film, but a significant percentage of the profits will be donated to the organization.
Beck played a preview of “The Abolitionists” on his program, and you can watch the clip below:
“I believe the Lord wants me to do this, and so I have 100 percent faith that he’ll protect me,” he said. “If I die because of this, it’ll be a good meeting with my maker because I died doing this. So there’s a sense of comfort in that.”
Beck said he hopes the impact of men like Ballard and Molen changes the world “as much as Harriet Beecher Stowe did” by shedding light on slavery in the United States.
“Out of everything that I do in my life, this may be the only thing that matters in the end,” Beck concluded.
Comprised of former U.S. Military and intelligence officers, the private organization is able to move rapidly and efficiently to save the countless children who are slipping through the cracks. After Beck spoke about Operation Underground Railroad in November, his audience donated over $300,000 in a single day, and over $1 million total.
On Tuesday, Beck was able to reveal the identity of his friend as popular author Tim Ballard. He was also able to show his audience some of what their donations have accomplished so far.
Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV
“In the first two months of our operation, we were able to save 35 children,” Ballard said on Beck’s television program Tuesday. “There’s 40 more children on deck that we’ve already seen that we’re about to pull out. These are children that would not have been saved if it were not for your audience.”A family made Beck and his audience a thank-you video, and Beck was too moved to speak after watching it. Eventually, he hesitantly asked whether the children in the video were some of the ones who had been rescued.
“The little girl, the 6-year-old girl, she was being trafficked,” Ballard said. “We got her out. The mom had been trafficked as a child, so it was this vicious cycle. We ended the cycle. It’s over for them.”
Ballard said most people have no concept of “how real and how huge” of an issue child sex trafficking is. Nearly two million children are trapped as sex slaves, and roughly 90% of them fall out of U.S. jurisdiction.
Ballard said the criminals “never look like bad guys,” and are absolutely everywhere. He even showed Beck a map that can pinpoint where child rape videos are being shared in real time, and it is horrific. For privacy reasons, the map showed only vague geographical areas, but law enforcement has access to the exact addresses. Beck said he’s seen a zoomed-in image of the affluent area where he lives in Texas, and it was terrifying.
Law enforcement has access to technology that enables them to see where child rape videos are being shared in real time. (Photo via TheBlaze TV)
That’s where men like Gerald Molen — the producer of hits like Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, and Minority Report — and Mark Mabry, the creative director at Glenn Beck’s company, come in. Both are working to expose the trade to as many as they possibly can.
Mabry even acted as a “buyer” in one of Ballard’s sting operations, so he would know exactly what goes into saving a child.
“I want you to look into the eyes of evil,” Ballard told him. “I want you to hold slavery in your arms in the form of a child, so you can go back and tell the people what we are doing and what the problem is all about.”
You can read part one of an in-depth account of Mabry’s experience here. Stay tuned to TheBlaze for parts two and three.
Tim Ballard is the Founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad. He also serves as O.U.R.’s Jump Team Commander for rescue operations. (Photo: TheBlaze TV)
“These are sacred dollars to us,” Ballard explained. “Because we know what we’re doing, we cut the bureaucracy out, the red tape. We’re lean. We’re mean. We can pull it off.”
Meanwhile, Molen and his team have begun work on a film called “The Abolitionists” that will highlight the horrors of the trade, and what happens when people stand to stop it. Rescue operations are being accompanied by film crews with the latest camera and audio technology to record the real-life rescues.
No donations to Operation Underground Railroad are being used to finance the film, but a significant percentage of the profits will be donated to the organization.
Beck played a preview of “The Abolitionists” on his program, and you can watch the clip below:
Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV
Ballard, who has been fighting child sex trafficking for over a decade, fought tears as he described how “you can see your own children’s faces in these little kids.”
He said there’s certainly a risk that he will be targeted by making his identity public, but “there has to be a voice that comes out from the shadows. There has to be a witness to what’s going on.”“I believe the Lord wants me to do this, and so I have 100 percent faith that he’ll protect me,” he said. “If I die because of this, it’ll be a good meeting with my maker because I died doing this. So there’s a sense of comfort in that.”
Beck said he hopes the impact of men like Ballard and Molen changes the world “as much as Harriet Beecher Stowe did” by shedding light on slavery in the United States.
“Out of everything that I do in my life, this may be the only thing that matters in the end,” Beck concluded.
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