Holly Springs couple accused of blistering child’s feet, recording restraint
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tamara and Christopher Ross of Holly Springs face multiple child abuse charges.
- The couple were out on bail on related allegations when they were arrested Wednesday.
- None of the children remained in the home as of Thursday afternoon.
A Holly Springs couple face multiple charges after allegedly recording themselves abusing their children, almost a decade after the father originally faced abuse charges in Fuquay-Varina.
Christopher Eugene Ross, 41, and Tamara Ross, 37, were arrested Wednesday on charges of intentional child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and false imprisonment in a January 2024 incident. Christopher Ross also faces a charge of misdemeanor child abuse in an Oct. 1, 2024, incident.
At the time of their arrest, the couple were out on bail after being arrested in May 2025 in a December 2024 incident caught on police body camera footage, court records show.
Here’s what we know about the allegations.
A 2019 plea deal
Christopher Ross took a plea deal in June 2019, pleading guilty to at least two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, according to court records.
Those charges were filed in April 2017 by Fuquay-Varina police after a Sept. 1, 2015, incident, the record shows, but available records didn’t provide additional details. However, a search warrant states one of Christopher Ross’ children “disclosed abuse by being hit on her genitals to the point of bleeding, [another child] disclosed being waterboarded, their mother was raped in front of the kids, among other abusive treatments.”
In exchange for Christopher Ross’s guilty plea, several other charges against him, including misdemeanor child abuse, were dismissed by the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, court records indicate. He was sentenced to three months in jail and 18 months of supervised probation.
Before that, Christopher Ross had also pleaded guilty in February 2013 to a domestic violence protective order violation in Raleigh and assault on a female in November 2010 in a Zebulon incident, court records show.
Video in court sparks concern
The latest investigation into the Ross household began in February 2025 after Christopher Ross allegedly played a concerning video during a child custody hearing in Wake County, according to search warrants.
“Christopher presented a video on his phone, allegedly showing incidents that may support his custody case,” one warrant states. “However, the video was alarming to the Judge Ashley Parker, who ordered the phone to be seized for evidence and requested an investigation into child abuse, including possible child torture.”
Wake County Sheriff’s Office courthouse deputies then contacted the Holly Springs Police Department, according to the warrants. When detectives reviewed the video shown in court, they saw Tamara Ross allegedly filming as Christopher Ross allegedly restrained their daughter as the child complained of pain and discomfort.
“The video ... shows [redacted] screaming and trying to escape the physical holds placed on her,” a warrant says. “In the video other children can be seen and were present during the incident.”
The couple said Christopher Ross was restraining the child because she was experiencing a mental health issue, according to court documents. A Child Protective Services worker who reviewed the video deemed it child abuse, search warrants state.
Holly Springs detectives also obtained body camera footage from a Dec. 30, 2024, incident at the couple’s then-home in Apex after one of the Ross children purportedly experienced a psychiatric episode.
“The body worn camera shows Christopher was on the floor, holding [redacted] in some type of hold,” search warrants state.
“He had [redacted] arms across her chest, and he was holding on to her hands/wrist area and pulling them back so she could not get free; he had his legs interlocked with her legs so she could not get them free either,” the warrants continue. “When asked about a scratch on her head, [redacted] said she scratched it, but Christopher interrupted and told her not to lie.”
Christopher Ross allegedly claimed the child was injured after she repeatedly hit her head on the floor when he first released her from the hold, according to search warrants. After police and EMS spoke with Christopher Ross, they determined he should take the child to the hospital.
It’s not clear if the video shown during the February 2025 child custody hearing occurred that same day, but a detective described the video in search warrants as displaying a similar scene.
“At one point, [redacted] doesn’t listen to Christopher’s commands, so he grabs her, and they end up on the ground,” the warrants state. “He’s holding her in a way that brings one of her legs up to her chest, and she is telling him it hurts.”
Christopher and Tamara Ross were arrested May 16, 2025; Christopher Ross was charged with intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, while Tamara Ross was charged with failure to report a crime against a juvenile, court records show.
Further investigation into the Ross household led to new charges March 10 in a Jan. 1, 2024, incident, according to arrest warrants. The couple are accused of holding an 11-year-old’s feet in “hot water causing burns and blistering to the feet resulting in permanent scarring”; Christopher Ross is separately accused of waterboarding the child with a washcloth.
Christopher and Tamara Ross remained in the Wake County jail without bail Thursday afternoon. All of their children have been removed from their home and are in the custody of Wake County Child Protective Services, court records show.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 4:39 PM.
