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Rick Alan Ross
American anti-cult activist (born 1952) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rick Alan Ross (b. 1952) is an American deprogrammer, cult specialist, and founder and executive director of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute.[1] He frequently appears in the news and other media discussing groups some consider cults.[2][3] Ross has intervened in more than 500 deprogramming cases in various countries.[4][5]
Rick Alan Ross | |
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Born | 1952 (age 71ā72) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Deprogrammer, cult specialist, founder and executive director of the Cult Education Institute |
Website | culteducation |
Ross faced criminal charges of unlawful imprisonment over a 1991 forcible deprogramming of United Pentecostal Church International member Jason Scott; a jury acquitted him at trial. In 1995, a civil lawsuit filed by Scott resulted in a multimillion-dollar judgement against Ross and his co-defendants. Later, Ross and Scott reached a settlement in which Ross agreed to pay Scott US$5,000 and provide 200 hours of professional services at no charge.
Ross was the only deprogrammer to work with members of the Branch Davidians prior to the Waco siege; some scholars later criticized his involvement with the siege.[6][7]