One of the investors for the film "Sound of Freedom," a conservative hit that dramatises a vigilante trying to root out child sex trafficking, has been charged with accessory to child kidnapping, according to police.
Fabian Marta was arrested by the St Louis Metropolitan Police on 23 July. He was charged as an accessory to child kidnapping, according to court records. He was later released on a $15,000 bond, according to Insider.
Mr Marta is listed in the credits of the film "Sound of Freedom" as one of the "investors [who] helped bring Sound of Freedom to theaters," Newsweek reported.
The court documents referencing his charges do not offer much in the way of details, but do include that the alleged incident took place on 21 July.
Mr Marta's attorney said the "charges are unfounded" in a statement to E! News.
"Mr. Marta had nothing to do with custodial kidnapping," the attorney, Scott Rosenblum told the outlet. "He was essentially a landlord."
Mr Marta's arrest adds another layer to an already controversy-laden film.
While the film addresses one facet of the very real problem of child sex trafficking, the veracity of its portrayal of its central protagonist, Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent who breaks away to save enslaved children, has garnered criticism.
Critics also claim the films misrepresents the reality of anti-child sex trafficking work and of the crime itself. The latter criticism is an allegation that Operation Underground Railroad — the group founded by Mr Ballard to fight trafficking — confirmed in an FAQ about the film.
Conspiratorial members of the right have used child sex trafficking allegations to spin narratives about global elites, Democrats, transgender people, Jewish people, and any other group they ideologically oppose. A persistent allegation made by QAnon adherents is that the Democratic party and any Republicans who don't align with their causes are secretly engaging in child sex trafficking and harvesting childrens’ fears through their adrenal glands.
Fabian Marta, 51, was charged with accessory to child kidnapping, according to court records— (St Louis Metropolitan Police Department)
Comet Ping Pong Pizza in Washington DC was invaded by an armed man who believed the “pizzagate” conspiracy theory alleging a child sex trafficking ring was operating in the restaurant's basement. Wayfair, the home decor company, became the centre of its own controversy when conspiracy theorists claimed the company was actually shipping children to elites, rather than tables and cupboards. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has long been the subject of an outrageous QAnon theory claiming she appeared in a video wearing the skinned face of a girl she abused.
The actor who portrays Mr Ballard in the film, Jim Caviezel, has previously stated his belief that human traffickers were harvesting children's adrenal glands, according to Vanity Fair.
In reality, the majority of child sex trafficking — approximately 90 per cent — occurs due to an adult family member's abuse. The type of trafficking portrayed in the film does happen, but it is the outlier, not the norm.
Local police anti-trafficking taskforces and established institutions, like the International Justice Mission, typically target the more prevalent type of trafficking.
The film became a subject of right-wing conspiracy theories when viewers recorded themselves in largely empty theatres, theorising their ideological enemies were trying to stop people from seeing the movie. In reality, many showings of the film have been pre-paid for by individuals or organisations who support the movie and want to make it available to theatre-goers. This has also artificially boosted its earnings in the box office.
According to CNN, more than 10 million tickets to the film have been purchased through the app Pay It Forward, meaning the seats are already purchased whether anyone goes to actually see the film or not. Approximately 20 per cent of the film's ticket sales have come from people “paying it forward” on the app.
