Camp leader jailed for drugging and abusing boys

A former vet, teacher and summer camp leader who laced sweets with tranquilliser and gave them to boys before sexually assaulting them has been jailed for more than 23 years.

Jon Ruben used the "cloak of Christianity" to carry out his attacks on vulnerable children, Leicester Crown Court heard on Friday.

The 76-year-old also drugged his wife Susan to ensure she would not wake up while the abuse took place. In court she labelled her husband of 24 years a "sadistic, monstrous paedophile", adding she had begun divorce proceedings.

A number of upset and angry parents of the victims also gave emotional testimony, with some swearing at Ruben as he was sentenced.

In a joint statement issued after the hearing, parents of the victims said Ruben was a "devious child sexual predator".

The statement read: "Jon Ruben portrayed himself as a good Christian man and someone who we could trust to be in charge of the care of our children.

"Our children themselves admired and respected Jon, but what we have found out is that Jon is a devious child sexual predator."

The statement added: "As families we are suffering shock, anxiety, distress, self-doubt and guilt, but we know it is you, Jon Ruben, who is to blame for this - no-one else."

Ruben was arrested after eight children and one adult fell ill at Stathern Lodge in Stathern, Leicestershire, in July last year.

The court heard Ruben - who had run a holiday camp for children for at least 27 years - had played a "sweet game", in which he would go into boys' rooms when they were getting ready for bed before asking them to eat drug-laced sweets "as quickly as they can".

Addressing Ruben, Judge Timothy Spencer KC said: "Ultimately, this case is about you achieving sexual gratification by carrying out your sexual fantasies focused upon young boys through careful, cynical, chilling preparation and by manipulation."

The parents of his victims nodded, and some wiped tears, as the judge handed down the sentence.

Continuing his sentencing remarks, Spencer said Ruben "lied and lied" when the police held an emergency interview with him to try and find out what drug he had given the children, so medics could treat them appropriately.

He added Ruben had made a "chilling" application to join an online paedophile group.

Spencer said Ruben, from Ruddington in Nottinghamshire, "misused" his veterinary knowledge and used the dark web to access drugs, and "espoused Christianity" and used his religion and his regard in the church to get into "close proximity to boys".

His role in the church led him to launch the camp at Stathern Lodge.

"With supreme irony, you were the safeguarding lead," the judge added.

Temporary Det Ch Insp Neil Holden, of Leicestershire Police, confirmed the investigation into Ruben remains "very much ongoing", with the force working alongside Nottinghamshire Police to contact schools and youth organisations in the Nottinghamshire area, which Ruben is known to have been involved with across the past 20 or more years.

He said: "I want to be open that we are under no illusion that we may never have the full answer regarding his crimes during previous years. Only Ruben knows that."

Det Ch Insp Holden said he was seen as "a pillar of the community", but now "that trust has been shattered".

"A lot of the parents blame themselves. They blame themselves for trusting Jon Ruben, they blame themselves for allowing their children to go away and be supervised by Jon Ruben.

"There's only one person to blame for this, and that is Jon Ruben."

He added the police's public portal was open for people to contact, including those who may have been a victim or witness of Ruben's crimes.

Due to circumstances surrounding the initial police response to the report that was received, Leicestershire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in July last year.

Assistant Chief Constable James Avery said: "Due to circumstances surrounding the initial police response to the report which was received, Leicestershire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in July last year.

"An independent IOPC investigation remains ongoing and we continue to co-operate with the IOPC as part of this."

The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnerships - which includes several local bodies - confirmed any previous involvement Ruben had with young people, including his employment as a teacher, was the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

Earlier the court heard Ruben had honed his skill of poisoning "over many years" and carefully chose his victims, who were described as being "ordinarily young, small and white", the court heard.

Prosecutor Mary Prior KC said the camp leader drugged his wife by putting sedatives in her tea so she did not wake up while he was sexually abusing the boys.

During a witness statement read out to the court, Susan said: "In one moment he was gathering children around the campfire, and then the next he was perpetrating the most awful crimes against the children and myself.

"I am still unable to come to terms with the manipulation from Jon and hiding in plain sight.

"He spent decades trying to paint a picture that he was a righteous, honourable man, when he was actually a sadistic, monstrous paedophile."

The court was told Ruben's stepson James raised concerns with his partner during the camp after finding baby oil, Vaseline and syringes.

The prosecution added: "Over many years he [Ruben] was a trusted leader of the community and abused his status and position of trust to derive sexual pleasure from young boys.

"Using the knowledge he gained as a veterinary surgeon, the defendant refined the use of sedatives to facilitate sexual offending on children, and vulnerable children at that."

Some of the boys had fallen ill after playing the game and were seen the next morning "walking into walls and in the wrong direction", the court heard.

The game involved the children chewing and swallowing three sweets that they unwrapped in advance, with the quickest eating all three winning a prize of a chocolate bar the next morning.

Ruben attempted to interrupt the sentencing hearing by shouting "no" after the court was told by the prosecution he had breached his own safeguarding rules.

He was regularly seen sobbing in the dock with his head in his hands throughout the day.

Mothers of the boys who were abused by Ruben also delivered victim impact statements, including one mother who said their child had started self-harming following the abuse.

Another spoke directly to the defendant, and said: "You've ruined the lives of these children. You could have killed a child. I want you to suffer every day."

Defending, Thomas Schofield KC told the court Ruben was sexually abused himself as a child, adding that "traumas can have an effect by preventing an individual from recognising further risk".

He told the judge that the defendant was "the epitome of remorseful".

In November, Ruben pleaded guilty to 17 offences including the sexual assault of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and eight counts of child cruelty.

He later admitted administering a poison or noxious substance - temazepam - to Susan Ruben in July last year.

Devices belonging to Ruben were later analysed by officers and found to contain more than 50 Category A indecent videos of children, the most serious category.

There were also Category B and C videos. None of the images concerned relate to children who were at the summer camp.

Ruben was told he would serve a further period on licence, bringing his total sentence to 31 years and eight months.

Hope Church Nottingham, where Ruben was a children and youth worker from 2010 to 2016, said in a statement that it was "profoundly shocked by the depravity of these crimes".

"That he exploited the trust placed in him as someone professing Christian faith make this betrayal all the more grievous," the statement said.

It added it had no known records within its safeguarding files that any concerns were raised, or that offences occurred in connection with the church during his tenure.

"However, we recognise that his role brought him into contact with children and young people, and we take that responsibility very seriously," the statement said.

"That is why our trustees are undertaking an internal review of our safeguarding practices, to ensure we learn everything we can."

The Bishop of Nottingham and Southwell, the Right Reverend Paul Williams, said in a statement that Ruben was also a member of the parochial church council at St Peter's Church in Ruddington.

"The abuse of trust and harm to the vulnerable is horrific in any setting, but it is especially shocking when it happens in a context that should have been safe and nurturing," the statement added.

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