(MO)
The Missourian [Washington, MO]
September 13, 2026
By Christopher Parker
A defunct Franklin County-based charity that operated orphanages in Mexico is being sued in Franklin County circuit court, alleging its leadership ignored reports of sexual abuse at the orphanages.
Attorneys representing a confidential plaintiff, a female from Mexico born in 2003, filed the suit against Niños de Mexico, Inc. on Wednesday. The suit also names six individual defendants who served in leadership positions for the charity, including Robert Wideman of Union.
The lawsuit alleges that Niños de Mexico leadership “received reports concerning inappropriate sexual conduct, sexual abuse, boundary violations, grooming behavior, harm, and other misconduct involving adults who maintained access to resident children,” and that they failed to adequately investigate those reports and take action.
The nonprofit, which since its founding in 1967 was headquartered in Union, shut down in November.
The Missourian first reported on allegations of sexual abuse at Niños de Mexico in 2023. Javier Colosia Lopez, who worked with children at a Niños de Mexico orphanage, was arrested and charged with child sex crimes. He was subsequently found guilty of aggravated rape and senteced to 11 years in prison. The plaintiff in the Franklin County lawsuit named Colosia Lopez as her sexual abuser for roughly four years, from age 14 to 17.
After Colosia Lopez’s arrest, Niños de Mexico hired an outside agency to investigate allegations of widespread sexual abuse at the orphanages. That report detailed over 80 victims and outlined a culture permissive of sexual abuse. In the Franklin County lawsuit, the victim alleges that Niños de Mexico leadership told residential children not to say anything, attempted to intimidate victims and denied the allegations.
The victim also said she suffered physical abuse and “torturous discipline” like holding huge rocks over her head and solitary confinement in dark rooms.
The lawsuit also alleges Niños de Mexico “engaged in an active effort to conceal
prior knowledge and mishandling of allegations of harm, by instructing staff to destroy
documents and/or video footage.”
At the center of many accusations is Steven Ross, of Florissant, who served as executive director of Niños de Mexico from 2012 until its closure last fall. A former spiritual advisor for Niños de Mexico previously told The Missourian she believed “it’s possible that Steve kept a lot of this from the board,” and noted high instances of turnover on the board.
The outside report also noted allegations of sexual misconduct by founders Merlyn and Wanda Beeman, formerly of Union, by multiple alleged victims dating around 1974. An official investigation took place at that time, according to previous Missourian reporting.
Summonses have been issued in the case but no hearing dates have been set, online court records show.