LPD wants you to see "The Sound of Freedom" and admission is free

Jul. 14—Admission is free to see the independent summer blockbuster "Sound of Freedom," at 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.

"Sound of Freedom," starring Jim Caviezel is based on the true story of former U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, who went undercover in Columbia to break up a sexual abuse ring, and who founded Operation Underground Railroad, OUR, to save children from sex trafficking.

Lebanon Police Chief Chad Morgan and Assistant Chief Amy Dickerson want everyone to see the movie that illustrates how child sex trafficking works.

"It can happen anywhere, and it happens here," Morgan said.

Child sexual abuse materials, videos and photos, are made overseas and elsewhere and marketed online to local consumers.

"They may not all be Indiana kids," Morgan said. "They may be wherever. But at the end of the day, the images are getting to Hoosiers who are looking at them. We just want to make the community aware and educate them."

It is illegal in Indiana to possess child sexual abuse materials.

The abusers don't always need to kidnap a victim. They also solicit innocents online. Hoosier children are routinely blackmailed online by people whom they think are safe but who threaten to "come kill" their family unless they perform sexual acts the abusers record, Dickerson said. The child thinks he or she contacted a teen model agency, for instance, but is really talking to a trafficker.

LPD members and police chaplain Ryan Vinson of Freedom Church watched "Sound of Freedom" together after a discussion on human trafficking.

They were so moved by the movie's message that they partnered with Freedom Church, Lebanon Mayor Matthew Gentry, State Rep. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville), and the GQT Lebanon 7 theater to make tickets available to anyone who wants to learn about human trafficking.

The theater significantly discounted the ticket prices, and the group bought all there were for those shows to be given to the public. Tickets will be available at the door, 1600 N. Lebanon St., or may be reserved at https://www.gqtmovies.com/showtimes/x06ci-gqt-lebanon-7. "Sound of Freedom," is rated PG-13.

Human trafficking is a $150 billion per year criminal enterprise, with 57% of those trafficked being minors, according to the DHS.