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Rick Ross is a notable figure in the anti-cult movement, who describes himself as a cult expert and an intervention specialist. He has lectured at Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Chicago and Arizona State University, among others, and was called in to assist the FBI investigation of the Branch Davidians. He has attracted a share of controversy beyond that which automatically attaches to any anti-cult activist, due to a minor criminal record (two non-violent crimes committed in 1974 and 1975) and public conflicts with other anti-cult figures such as Steven Hassan. Critics also point to his lack of formal credentials (his highest completed educational program was high school); he has however been qualified and accepted as an expert witness in court cases in eight states.
Jason Scott case
Ross was involved in the case of Jason Scott, an 18-year-old member of the Life Tabernacle Church, affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International. Scott's mother, Katherine Tonkin, had been a member of the church, but had left due to concerns about the means the church used to keep members in line, their focus on material donation to the church, and a relationship between an elder church member and one of her two minor sons, Jason's younger brothers. After leaving the church herself, and on the suggestion of the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), whom she called, she asked Ross to assist her in the "deprogramming" of her two minor sons. After speaking with Ross, the two minors chose to leave the church.
Tonkin then made an attempt, again with the help of Ross, to provide a similar intervention for Jason. This attempt was unsuccessful, and criminal charges were brought against Ross and two others for "unlawful imprisonment" of Jason during the deprogramming, charges that were filed, dropped, and then re-filed two years later. The trial ended in acquittal for Ross, but a civil suit was then filed, with long-time counsel for the Church of Scientology Kendrick Moxon representing Jason Scott. This suit ended in Ross and the Cult Awareness Network being ordered to pay large settlement amounts (the jury awarded Jason Scott $875,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages in the amount of $1,000,000 against CAN, $2,500,000 against Rick Ross, and $250,000 each against RossÂ’ two accomplices); the suit pushed Ross into bankruptcy, from which he later emerged, and along with over 50 similar suits (most of them brought by Moxon) pushed CAN into bankruptcy, where its name, its logo and its files were considered assets, assets then purchased by the Church of Scientology.
In December 1996, Scott reconciled with his mother and settled with Ross for $5,000, and for 200 hours of Ross's services "as an expert consultant and intervention specialist". Moxon was fired the next day, Scott retaining long-time Church of Scientology opponent Graham Berry as his lawyer instead. Moxon, who had argued in the case that Ross and associates had hindered a competent adult's freedom to make his own religious decisions, immediately filed court papers seeking to appoint a guardian for Scott, whom he called "incapacitated", and rescind the settlement.
Current work
Ross, like much of the anti-cult community, no longer advocates involuntary interventions for adults, preferring voluntary "exit counseling". His website is a widely used storehouse of anti-cult resources, and though critics accuse him of being hostile to new religious movements, his site's FAQ takes care to clarify that he does not believe all new religious movements are cults (nor all cults religious), nor all cults necessarily unsafe and/or destructive.
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