The judge has concluded the hearing and the courtroom has cleared.

The families of the victims left the room quickly following the sentence.

As the sentence was passed, Ruben looked forward towards the judge as he learned of his fate.

He was emotionless as he left the dock.

Judge Timothy Spencer KC has sentenced Jon Ruben to 23 years and 10 months in prison.

Continuing to pass sentence, Spencer tells Ruben he has "anxiously and seriously considered imposing a sentence of life imprisonment".

"I have decided to hold back from that," he said.

"There are two things that have saved you - firstly your pleas of guilty, that should bring tangible credit."

He said Ruben was a "risk-taker throughout life", and that in his view would "continue to take risks".

Spencer added: "I have no hesitation in concluding you are dangerous within the meaning of the law."

Judge Timothy Spencer KC said he had seen a lot of "noise" regarding wider conduct that might have aroused suspicion, but would only sentence for the "proven offences and nothing more".

He said "severe psychological harm" was caused to the victims and that Ruben used a space - their dormitory - where the children should have been safe.

The judge said he was "quite satisfied" that the harm caused was the highest possible.

Reacting to mitigation put forward by Ruben's defence lawyer, Thomas Schofield KC, the judge said "over time", he believed Ruben had "come to have some insight into the enormity of what he has done".

Addressing Ruben, he added: "You have no previous convictions, a credit for that must be tempered by the conduct you have admitted to the psychiatrist and probation.

"There are positive aspects to your character and I have read and taken on board the references provided.

"In your earlier life, you made a positive contribution to society but it seems to me you have fundamentally lost your way in recent years.

"I accept you regret it and are remorseful for it."

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Ruben, who has been sitting quietly facing forward or looking down this afternoon, is crying in the dock once again.

Continuing to address Ruben, the judge said: "The impact of all of your offending has been palpable in this court. We heard movingly from many of parents, and from your wife.

"The effect on boys depicted in the imagery, that went to the camps, the parents, may be lifelong.

"Certainly, it will take many years - even for a partial coming to terms with all of this."

The court has heard Ruben applied by writing to join an online paedophile group.

"The application is chilling, and includes a desire to see underage boys chained and beaten," Judge Timothy Spencer KC said.

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 them, so medics could treat them appropriately.

"You knew what you had done," he said. "You knew how ill they were.

"You had observed some of the after effects of what you had done and you refused to resist when medical staff needed to know what they had ingested.

"If ever there was a time for confession, it was then and you lied and lied."

Spencer said after searching his home, police found "a whole variety" of drugs, together with syringes and Vaseline in a wardrobe.

A total of 62 sweets were recovered and sent for forensic testing. All of them had been laced with flubromazolam, also known as liquid Xanax.

Spencer said: "Being given [the drug] without knowledge poses a severe life-threatening risk.

"A single dose can cause breathing to stop and causes excessive drowsiness.

"It was that drug, Jon Ruben, that you were administering to these boys.

"All of this serves to underline just how dangerous your drugging of these boys was. And the risk you were taking with their short and long-term health."

Continuing his sentencing remarks, the judge said on the morning of Monday 28 July 2025, it was noticed that the boys in one bedroom were silent - in "complete contrast to other bedrooms".

Ruben's stepson James was again concerned and saw sweet wrappers on the floor.

At 08:47 BST, he again called the police to follow up his previous report.

The boys from the bedroom were all showing signs of sedation, being drowsy, dizzy and feeling sick, and a number fell asleep on the sofa and one on the grass outside.

The police attended by 12:30, and met Ruben's stepson and later returned to the lodge at 14:30 while the group were eating lunch at a local pub.

Ruben was then arrested at the pub and 38 children were taken to the local village hall for medical triage.

On the evening of Sunday 27 July, the "most serious offences" took place, the judge told the court.

Timothy Spencer KC said: "Again, you drugged your wife. You allowed [the] boys to have more than the usual quota of three sweets.

"They had four and you knew that was a risk."

The boys were then told to clean their teeth, the "sweet game" was played, and Ruben closed the bedroom door, the judge said.

Addressing Ruben, Spencer added: "That night you carried out the sexual assault of two of the boys."

Spencer said Ruben drugged the cup of tea he made for his wife, before attempting to sexually abuse the boys on 26 July 2025.

"You had an hour and a half of unfettered access to a group of boys," Spencer added.

A number of the boys reported feeling unwell the following morning and told other adults they had played the "sweet game" with Ruben.

This prompted two family members to search his bedroom, finding the drugs and other items. They called the police at 18:30 BST.

Judge Timothy Spencer KC tells Ruben that he knew "perfectly well" that the ingestion of the sweets during the game would cause the children to become ill.

"You thought you were dealing with temazepam, but you actually got liquid Xanax," Spencer said.

"You calculated that even if a boy became partially aware of what you were doing, he would have no memory of it afterwards.

"You had with you a wash bag - that contained baby oil and Vaseline."

The court heard Ruben's stepson James checked his room and found the items, including a number of drugs.

"The simple fact is that he had his very strong suspicions about you," the judge added.

Ruben has been told that, on the weekend of 26 and 27 July 2025, he used his "shroud of Christianity and certainly your position of authority and trust" to abuse the boys.

The judge said the boys that he targeted were "young and small".

"Your actions were premeditated and pre-planned," Spencer said.

"You used your veterinary knowledge to equate the amount of drugs to sedate animals. A chilling document, which shows how you calculated the dosages required."

Spencer told the court that the location of the "important rooms" to this case is "very clear".

He said the safeguarding procures, which he had "presumably contributed to", required two adults to supervise the children overnight.

"You breached those rules," Spencer said to Ruben.

He added: "You supervised [the children] alone. You supervised them only in bedrooms three and four. They were situated away from other children and other leaders.

"This layout and configuration of the rooms gave you unfettered access to these boys."

Spencer said that Ruben "espoused Christianity" and used his religion and his regard in the church to get into "close proximity to boys".

"Over many years you were a trusted leader of the community," he said.

"Ultimately you exploited that status and you grossly betrayed the trust that came with it."

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

"With supreme irony, you were the safeguarding lead," he said.

Continuing to address the defendant, the judge said Ruben had "described fantasies with regards to young boys" in a journal that was discovered.

He told the court: "You discovered the dark web and that facilitated more access to indecent imagery.

"You also misused your veterinary knowledge and used the dark web to access drugs.

"You retrained as a teacher in 1994 - one can question the motivation for that retraining - but putting that apart - it put you in close proximity with boys."

Starting his sentencing remarks, Judge Timothy Spencer KC described Ruben as "highly intelligent".

He said: "You could have done so much more, and so much better with your life."

He said it was "clear" that his sexual orientation had laid towards children for decades.

The judge said Ruben had thousands of indecent images of children on his laptop, and had only been charged for a "small number" of those images.