Rick Ross
Rick Ross is a self-professed cult expert and was a deprogrammer-for-hire. Now he does exit counseling. His opponents charge that his credentials are dubious and point to his criminal record as evidence against his integrity. Rick Ross is considered to be a notable figure in the anti-cult movement.
In 1995, Ross and two accomlices were found guilty of conspiracy to violate the civil right to freedom of religion of Jason Scott, a member of the Life Tabernacle Church, affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International; Scott was abducted, handcuffed and gagged, then held for five days as part of an unsuccessful attempt by Ross to cause him to renounce his faith. Ross accused Scientology Church in "orchestrating the case". He was ordered to pay more than $3 million in damages.
His indictment was last in a series of court verdicts against deprogrammers. Cult Awareness Network, the largest U.S. anti-cult organization, went bankrupt as a result. Not long before the bankrupcy CAN accepted a professional ethics code, which forbade kidnappings, usage of illegal drugs and rapes by the deprogrammers and introduced a new term "exit counselling" in pursuit to combat the negative publicity and add a legitimacy to the occupation. The code was similar to that of American Psychologists Association (APA). Exit counsellors, however failed to observe this code, which led to further indictments and subsequent bankrupcy of CAN. Later Ross reached a settlement with Jason Scott.
Currently Rick Ross distances himself from deprogramming, calling himself "cult expert" and "intervention specialist". He maintains his own website with anti-cult materials, by means of which he advertizes his own services and dissiminates information critical to new religious movements.
