A series of abuse charges means a Raleigh couple could lose custody of their children forever.
Tamara Ross, 37, and Christopher Ross, 41, who were married in 2021, were raising four children -- Christopher Ross's children by another mother, ages 11, 18 and 20, and a 3-year-old whom they shared. The warrants for their arrests allege that a child was injured in their care in January 2023 and again in December 2024. They were arrested on those charges in 2025, and their minor children put into foster care.
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At the time of her arrest, Tamara Ross was was a teacher at Douglas Elementary School in Raleigh. Holly Springs police arrested the couple because the alleged abuse happened when they lived in that town.
Court documents show Tamara Ross is asking for immunity in the case, alleging she was the first to report to police that her husband tried to restrain her daughter, who, according to Ross, was having a mental health crisis. Authorities charge her with failing to report a crime against a child along with child abuse and false imprisonment.
Christopher Ross faces two counts of intentional child abuse along with false imprisonment.
The documents say an 11-year-old child was put into water so hot that her feet blistered and burned.
During a recent hearing to determine if that child would be returned to the home, Christopher Ross shared what prosecutors called a disturbing video that showed him holding the child on the ground.
Another daughter described abuse that included being punched in the face, choked with a remote control in her mouth and being held with her head under water.
All of the Ross children have since been removed from their parents' care, and the court is considering allowing them to be put up for adoption, so they could never be returned to the Rosses.
