A few weeks ago, we saw a movie called, Sound of Freedom. It was released for viewing during the July 4^th weekend. It has turned out to be one of the biggest box office hits of the year, all with little, if any, Hollywood support. If fact, in box office receipts, it’s ahead of big budget franchise movies such as Indiana Jones 5. Sound of Freedom only cost about 14.5 million dollars to make, yet as of August 4, it has brought in over 155 million dollars in box office receipts!

You may wonder what the movie is about and why it’s so popular. In the words of Angel Studios, the distributor of the movie, “Sound of Freedom is a true story that exposes the dark side of child trafficking. A federal agent saves a boy from trafficking, but his little sister is still captive. He embarks on a dangerous mission; risking his life to free her from a fate worse than death.”

Jim Caveziel does an amazing job in playing Tim Ballard, the federal agent who goes searching for the brother and sister who have been trafficked. As stated above, the subject matter of the movie is about an evil side of life that’s difficult to understand, let alone talk about. Yet, this movie instills hope that good can prevail over evil. It’s a thriller done appropriately and professionally. It is rated PG-13.

Child trafficking is a 150-billion-dollar industry globally. It’s one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises and the United States is the biggest consumer of it!

According to the Council of Foreign Relations, immigration authorities encountered more than 152, 000 unaccompanied minors at the U.S-Mexico border in fiscal year 2022. Out of that number, the US government has lost track of more than 85,000 of those minors. A significant number of those are believed to have become involved in the human trafficking industry. In the words of Tim Ballard, “Border policies are incentivizing child trafficking.”

As divided as the country is over so many issues, we thought that everyone, no matter their political persuasion, could come together to support a movie that’s against child trafficking. We were wrong!

People on CNN and MSNBC were encouraging people not to see the movie. They said it was promoting “QAnon concepts” and “conspiracy theories”. There were no ‘facts’ given to support their allegations. We didn’t know what ‘QAnon concepts’ even meant.

After some research, we discovered that, supposedly, one of QAnon’s beliefs is that “a group of Satan-worshiping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media.”  Did those who made the allegations ever see the movie? Because nothing about that ‘concept’ was ever mentioned. Also, it can’t be a ‘conspiracy theory’ when the movie is based on a true story. However, Tim Ballard raises another interesting question – why do some feel it’s necessary to run interference for child sex traffickers? We encourage you to see the movie and decide for yourself.

We wanted to see if sexual exploitation of youth is an issue in Carver County. To find out, we talked with Detective Ross Thompson with the Carver County Sheriff’s office. He indicated that locally, one of the most prevalent behaviors involving sexual predators and youth is happening online.

A typical scenario is when a juvenile male is approached online by a purported young female. Over time, after a ‘relationship’ has been established, the male is asked to send an explicit picture of himself to the perpetrator. Once he does that, something called ‘sextortion’ happens. The perpetrators demand that the victims send them money. If they don’t, victims are told that their image will be sent to family, friends, and everyone on the victims’ contact list.

Detective Thompson recalls where a juvenile only sent a picture of his face. The perpetrator photoshopped that picture onto the body of a nude male and threatened to send it out to everyone if they weren’t paid. These scenarios also happen with females. Understandably these situations cause great anxiety to vulnerable juveniles. Tragically, some of these cases have resulted in needless suicides because the victims are so distraught.

If you, or someone you know, is dealing with these issues, contact law enforcement or Jessica Bartholomew, founder, and executive director of Chaska-based A.C.T. United for help. They do much to prevent sextortion and trafficking of young people.

We know this sensitive topic can be difficult to discuss. But with awareness, changes can be made to help stop child trafficking. Also, with care and concern, this topic can be addressed with those who can be most impacted – our children and grandchildren. More information can be found at www.Angel.com/freedom

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@TheBalanceCenter.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2023 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.