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A retired vet who used his 'cloak of Christianity' and position of trust to drug boys in order to sexually abuse them at a summer camp – after first knocking out his wife so she wouldn't rumble the abuse – was jailed today for almost 24 years.
Jon Ruben, 76, injected sweets with a tranquilliser he had sourced from the dark web, then played a 'sweet game' with the victims - awarding a bar of chocolate to the child who could eat three of the sticky treats the quickest.
The former primary school teacher had been helping to run camps at the Stathern Lodge residential facility, in Stathern, Leicestershire, for 30 years, and police fear he could be at the centre of a 'huge, historical abuse case'.
A court heard he used his 'skill set' gained as a vet to help work out the dose he needed to stupefy his victims.
The police investigation found that Ruben conducted searches on how the sedatives he used would affect animals.
He then injected crushed sedatives into the wrapped sweets using a hypodermic syringe.
As details of his horrific offending were read out by prosecutor Mary Prior KC, parents of the victims sobbed in court and one could be seen retching.
This afternoon Judge Timothy Spencer told 'dangerous' Ruben he had invaded 'the bedroom of these boys where they should have been safe'.
He said Ruben displayed 'careful, cynical, chilling preparation', adding: 'Over many years you were a trusted leader of the community.
'Ultimately you exploited that status and you grossly betrayed the trust that came with it.'
Susan and Jon Ruben in a photo on social media. Mrs Ruben was also drugged by her husband
Ruben bought the sedatives he used to lace the sweets off the dark web
Paedophile Ruben injected these sweets with sedatives sourced on the dark web
Ruben kept his head bowed in the dock as the judge described the danger he had placed the children in by drugging them, during his 'unfettered access' to them.
Judge Spencer added: 'You knew what you had done and the after-effects but you refused to assist when medical staff needed to know what drug they had ingested.'
The court heard it took eight hours for his solicitor to volunteer that it was temazepam.
'If ever there was a time for confession Jon Ruben, it was then', the judge said. 'And you lied and lied.'
He sentenced Ruben to 23 years and ten months, with an extended licence period of eight years.
The judge said it was 'clear' that his sexual orientation had laid towards children for decades.
During the day-long hearing, a string of parents delivered emotional victim impact statements - with one telling Ruben: 'I want you to f****** die...you disgusting vile man'.
Ruben's wife, Susan, then read out her own statement and told the court she had been 'rocked to my very core' to discover he had drugged her tea at the camp to stop the light sleeper waking as he moved around the Lodge's creaky floors.
Mrs Ruben had been involved in running the camp for 34 years and met her husband at Stathern Lodge, and felt 'completely betrayed' by Ruben.
Mrs Ruben, 63, told the court she was now divorcing the 'sadistic, monstrous paedophile', adding: 'I believed we understood and supported each other but I have now found out I had no idea who Jon Ruben is.'
Following the hearing, police released video footage showing the moment of Ruben's arrest – and of him repeatedly stonewalling detectives in interviews.
Mrs Prior told the court: 'Over many years he was a trusted leader of the community and abused his status and position of trust to derive sexual pleasure from young boys.'
After selling his chain of four vets branches, Ruben retrained as an early years primary school teacher, before returning to veterinary work as a locum after 15 years in the profession.
Mrs Prior said he was also 'heavily involved in the Church' and had volunteered to run after-school clubs and lunchtime groups for socially deprived children.
She said his offences involved 'significant preparation' and noted: 'His choice to retrain later in life gave him access to prepubescent children.'
The prosecutor continued: 'The defendant illegally purchased sedatives which, having carefully researched the quantity he needed, using his skill set as a vet to equate the amount needed to sedate animals, he crushed and injected into specially chosen very sweet, very sticky sweets.'
Witnesses described a number of the children appearing as though they were drunk, and sleeping more heavily than would be expected the morning after they had been drugged. Some felt sick and others were seen stumbling into walls.
Leicester Crown Court heard Ruben's stepson became suspicious after discovering a wash bag amongst his belongings containing baby oil, Vaseline and other items to 'assist him in offending'.
But the court heard he contacted Leicestershire Police three times - initially via the Nottinghamshire force who emailed on his report - before officers attended the lodge.
In November, Ruben pleaded guilty to one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and a count of sexual assault in relation to a second child.
Ruben was arrested in a pub car park around a mile from the lodge which hosted the camp
Ruben said little to police, but now considers himself a 'monster' his barrister told the court
Ruben also admitted eight counts of child cruelty, three counts of making indecent images of children and four drugs charges.
Then last month he contacted police from his remand cell to admit that he also drugged his wife with temazepam.
Mrs Prior told the court when he pleaded guilty to that offence: 'The drugging was in order to ensure she did not wake up while he drugged and sexually abused the children.'
She said that while Ruben thought he had illegally purchased 'temazepam' online, the medication was actually Flubromazolam, also known as liquid Xanax - and potentially life-threatening.
Mrs Prior said: 'A dose can cause breathing to stop. It causes excessive drowsiness, partial amnesia' and was akin to a date-rape drug.
All 62 drugs recovered from Ruben and tested contained that drug, the court heard.
The court was shown images of a 'chocolate poisoning chart' belonging to Ruben which showed how much of the drug was required for a child, an adult, a large dog and a small dog.
The prosecutor said a pre-sentence report noted that the 'likelihood of the impact of the offending on the victims and their families will be significant with recovery being long-lasting if not indefinite'.
She submitted that Ruben posed a 'high risk' of further offending.
While co-operating with the production of a probation report, the court heard Ruben admitted that he enjoyed the risk of sedating the victims and told a doctor he had 'become hooked on sexually abusive behaviours'.
Mrs Prior also said Ruben told a psychologist that once the children were drugged he considered them as 'objects'.
In the first of a series of victim impact statements read to the court, a mother of one of the victims responded: 'My son is not an object, he is a child.'
Sobbing, she said her son couldn't believe the allegations against Ruben and had told her: 'But he's a Godly man, he wouldn't do that'.
The child has since begun self-harming, she said, and now 'won't even accept a lollypop from the barber'.
Police described the premeditation that went into Ruben's offending as 'horrifying'
An aerial view of Stathern Lodge, which was hosting children on a summer camp when a number fell ill
The father of a second child said his 'once confident' son had now 'lost trust in adults in all areas of life'.
He said Ruben was guilty of a 'deep betrayal' and breach of trust.
At the end of the father's statement, Ruben said: 'I'm sorry', but the father replied: 'Don't say sorry to me'.
The mother of another victim, barely able to speak through her sobs, described Ruben as a 'devious sexual predator' who had portrayed himself as a 'good Christian man'.
She said her son 'now tries to stay awake as late as possible because he appears afraid to go to sleep'.
Another mother told Ruben: 'You were a pillar of the community and an upstanding citizen. You used this power to your advantage (for) your vile personal benefit.
'I cannot see my son asleep without seeing your revolting face.'
In her own statement which she read to the court, Mrs Ruben branded her soon-to-be ex-husband a 'narcissist' who was 'not the man I thought I married'.
She said: 'Next week we were meant to be celebrating our silver wedding anniversary. My life has been turned upside down.
'He spent decades trying to paint a picture that he was a righteous, honourable man, when he was actually a sadistic, monstrous paedophile. '
Mrs Ruben said the summer camps were meant to provide 'a few days of fun for children doing activities together'.
She added: 'I have personally been involved in running the camps for 34 years and it's been a massive part of my life and source of enjoyment.'
Mrs Ruben said she and others had 'devoted endless hours to run these camps' and it horrified her that Ruben had betrayed them to use the trips 'as an opportunity to offend' in horrific fashion.
Mrs Ruben said the defendant was 'effectively playing the role of two people at the same time', adding that in one moment he was 'gathering the children around the camp fire; and in the next abusing them'.
Thomas Schofield KC, defending Ruben, accepted the offending was 'sneaky, manipulative and deceitful'.
The court was shown images of a 'chocolate poisoning chart' belonging to Ruben which showed how much of the drug was required for a child, an adult, a large dog and a small dog
Ruben's wash bag containing the Vaseline, syringes and drugs
He said Ruben, who had no previous convictions, describes himself as a monster who expects to die in prison.
Twice-married Ruben portrayed himself as a pillar of the community – a vet who once stood for election to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' Council, it's governing body.
He was also a church youth leader and trustee of the Stathern Children's Holiday Fund (SCHF), which he set up with his wife in 2016.
The charity took underprivileged children from his home city of Nottingham on camps to Stathern Lodge, a rented facility owned by another charity.
But underneath the respectable veneer was a paedophile who had attempted to join an online group for like-minded child molesters.
Indecent images of children were found on his Apple MacBook - including 50 of the most serious 'Category A' videos of children, alongside a depraved 'paedophile application' on the device.
In it, Ruben described paedophilic or violent imagery which appealed to him, including 'a scene where a boy is undergoing an unpleasant experience, chained or beaten'.
As the horrific detail was read out, a parent shouted 'shame on you' at the defendant.
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Neil Holden, from Leicestershire Police, said the application would have allowed him 'to have access to some of the most horrific images online'.
T/DCI Holden said the youngsters in the images found on his computer were not those he abused at Stathern Lodge and have not been identified.
The detective said handwritten 'confessional' notes were also unearthed in Ruben's £500,000 barn conversion at Ruddington, on the outskirts of Nottingham.
'The notes were almost a battle with himself, around his sexual interest in children', the officer said.
'There's also definitely some evidence around a battle with his quite strong religious beliefs.'
T/DCI Holden said officers were still investigating the depraved pensioner.
'We will never know the full history of offending Jon Ruben has potentially been involved with,' he said.
'I don't think we know at the minute the full extent of his offending.'
Asked if this could potentially be a 'huge, historical abuse case', the detective replied: 'Absolutely potentially, yes.'
The court heard Ruben 'selected' children to attend the camps from the church classes and youth groups he was involved in.
He had played the sweet game for 'many years' in the children's dormitories, the court has been told.
A close up of one of the sweets, showing where an incision mark has been made
As they slipped into unconsciousness, he sexually abused those whom he had chosen. By sedating all in the room, he knew the others would not disturb him.
But the prosecutor said that until last summer, Ruben had always managed to explain away any illness or drowsiness the next day by claiming the children were 'overwrought' by enjoyment or a change of food.
The court heard Ruben took Viagra in advance of the offences.
Mrs Prior said he stayed in the room until all the boys were asleep after playing the sweet game.
The court was told safeguarding rules required two adults to supervise the children overnight, which Ruben breached.
He told the boys he was the (camp) leader and therefore could do night duty on his own.
Ruben was arrested in the car park of the Anchor Inn at Plungar, a mile from Stathern Lodge, where Ruben had taken most of the children on the camp for lunch.
A total of eight children were taken to hospital.
Detectives have visited schools and community centres across Nottingham to establish how widespread his offending could have been.
A multi-agency review has also been launched to probe what background checks were carried out into Ruben, but police believe he was operating alone.
T/DCI Holden added: 'We uncovered evidence from a number of the sweets that indicated injection marks and/or cut marks within the sweets.
'Jon Ruben has not only purchased drugs off the dark web, he's then introduced or injected those drugs within the sweets.
'It is quite a painstaking process. The premeditation in terms of that is horrifying.'
Leicestershire Police have set up a special hotline where other possible victims can make contact.
T/DCI Holden said Ruben posed 'as a man doing a lot of good for children in the community' and was 'trusted' by the parents of those he targeted.
But he said Ruben 'used that position to allow himself to gain his own satisfaction, sexual gratification, from that.'
'A lot of the parents blame themselves', T/DCI Holden added.
'They blame themselves for trusting Jon Ruben. They blame themselves for allowing their children to go away and be supervised by him.
'I've been very clear with them - there's only one person to blame for this and that is Jon Ruben.'
Assistant Chief Constable James Avery said: 'Our focus continues to remain on the victims involved in this investigation and their families. Through Family Liaison Officers, and alongside other organisations, we continue to ensure ongoing support is in place.
'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.
'We are unable to comment further at this stage while the IOPC investigation remains ongoing.'
Janine McKinney of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Ruben had used 'positions he had secured for himself to gain access to children'.
She added: 'Ruben showed complete disregard for his victims.
'These were children entrusted into his care. He betrayed that trust to satisfy his own selfish desires, leaving the victims sick and traumatised and their families devastated by the betrayal.'