I'd like to add to Rachel's post about Sidobotham by re-posting about Scott Ross, who continues, from I last heard, to still be engaged with NTM. The C&MA, the mission I was born into, hired him around 2008 to investigate reports of abuse C&MA alumni were making. They posted this flyer (with a picture of him and his wife) regarding his experience. When I called Scott Ross and asked if he had reported the perpetrators he had proven guilty to law enforcement and child protection agencies, he said "well no, I'm just now realizing I should have". We recommended C&MA alumni not submit reports; those that did submit reports were found to have insufficient grounds to move the inquiry forward. Its no coincidence of course, that he and Sidiobatham eventually partnered, and that she became a lead internal investigator for NTM.
I deeply admire your courage, D&A, in making the decisions you have. It's not easy; and so very few in the C&MA, NTM and other denominations have had the courage to leave their place of employment regardless of the evidence of systemic endangerment of children within many mission cultures.
Scott Ross The Ross Group Principal
Scott Ross has been a member of New Tribes Mission for 22 years and House Counsel for 14 years. He is a graduate of Idaho State University and Gonzaga University Law School and is licensed to practice law in the states of Washington, Idaho and Florida. For 10 years Scott had a general practice of law in Spokane, Washington with an emphasis on criminal defense and then for 2 years served as a City Attorney.
Scott and his wife Debbie together with his two children served with New Tribes Mission in Papua New Guinea from 1987 until 1993 when he was transferred to New Tribes Mission’s home office in Sanford Florida to join the Crisis Management team handling the kidnapping of three of NTM’s missionaries in Panama. For the next 11 years Scott worked on kidnappings in Panama, Colombia, Indonesia and the Philippines as well as filled the House Counsel role for New Tribes Mission.
At present Scott is General Counsel for New Tribes Mission, consultant to the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, an adjunct senior trainer for Fort Sherman Academy, an international crisis management training academy. He has consulted on several crisis events for numerous missions and has been lead investigator in over 120 mission child abuse investigations. Scott has produced a 5 part video series on child abuse and a video on common mistakes made by churches and missions when confronted with a child abuse allegation which is being used by several mission agencies in their child safety programs.
He is considered one of the premier investigators in resolving charges of abuse by missionary children. His success rate in proving the guilt of the perpetrators is well over 85 percent. He is the author of training material for NTM related to preventing child abuse and a key player in establishing the Child Safety & Protection Network of mission agencies.
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