‘Sound of Freedom’ is a reminder of Texas’ disheartening role in human trafficking

In what might be the film coup of the decade, the little-known “Sound of Freedom,” beat out “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” at the box office last weekend, a holiday weekend at that. “Jones” cost almost $300 to make compared to “Freedom’s” $14.5 million budget. “Indiana” Jones grossed about $11.7 million its first weekend, “Sound of Freedom” grossed $14.2 million.

If you haven’t seen “Sound of Freedom,” starring the “Passion of the Christ’s” Jim Caviezel, you should. The film tells a portion of the real-life story of Tim Ballard, who was a Department of Homeland Security agent working for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. While there, he is compelled to hunt down child-sex traffickers and rescue two siblings bought and sold for adult rape to separate buyers in different parts of the world.

It’s an eye-opening, life-altering experience for him.

Ballard, a man of faith, husband, and father of nine (two children were sold to him in a sting operation; he later adopted them) now runs Operation Underground Railroad, an organization that seeks to rescue kids who have been sex-trafficked. The internet is abuzz with theories that both Ballard and Caviezel are invested in a QAnon conspiracy — whether the men are or aren’t, it’s not clear, nor are their views on the topic related to this vital matter.

When you do see “Sound of Freedom,” be prepared to leave with your heart heavy, your mind racing, and the knowledge that according to statistics, the United States is is the No. 1 “retailer” of child-sex trafficking. Texas ranks No. 2 in the U.S. for the number of human trafficking cases, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline — it’s a $99 million industry in Dallas. Experts say sex trafficking is so lucrative it makes an estimated $99 billion per year globally, a number that will soon surpass the drug trade. Approximately 2 million children are bought and sold for adults to rape around the world. There are purportedly more people enslaved in the sex trade than there were enslaved when slavery was legal.

It’s a hard film to stomach for the same reasons that those statistics are nauseating: For most normal people, the concept of child-sex trafficking, selling children, ages infant to 18, for the purpose of adult rape seems incomprehensible. Pornography is everywhere and even child pornography is rampant, but that seems like nothing compared to stealing children and selling them for adults to rape several times over. As Caviezel, playing Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, says at one point in the film, drugs can only be sold once, but a child can be sold five-10 times throughout his life and sold for sex many times per day. It must be a child’s living hell.

To know then that the United States, and particularly Texas, is a massive buyer in this trade is disheartening to say the least. Devastating is more accurate. Child-sex trafficking — rape slavery is a more blatant term — does not fit into polite dinner conversation and is not as “acceptable” or talked about in society as pornography, rape, and even child abductions. It’s uncomfortable because it exposes the depths of human depravity. If the numbers are even somewhat accurate, there’s more people wallowing in those depths than we thought and they are our proverbial neighbors.

Texas is a target due to its proximity to the Mexican border. Its porous and chaotic border situation does not help matters. Here, it seems more common to snag teenage girls for the trade, a la the film “Taken,” which is about the same thing but with more heroics and Liam Neeson, so it was a bit easier to digest.

In April, a 15 year-old girl was abducted from a Dallas Mavericks game bathroom, allegedly raped in the parking lot, and sold in Oklahoma City where she was found 10 days later with the help of a hired private investigator who specializes in sex-trafficking. The Dallas man who originally lured the girl from the game was finally found and arrested many months later. The story should shock anyone, but particularly parents, who presume a professional basketball game would be a safe place, far from the depravity of sex-trafficking.

There are sex-stings in the DFW area somewhat regularly — law enforcement is aware. There is a hotline; other things you can do, including being aware of your surroundings, knowing the signs, and contacting local and federal officials. In March, the state Legislature passed a bill that takes effect in September that strengthens laws about human sex trafficking, including ways to track down perpetrators, assist victims, curb businesses that facilitate it, and more. This is a step in the right direction but there’s more to do. As Caviezel says in the film, “God’s children are not for sale.”