Summer camp sex offender Jon Ruben admits drugging wife while he assaulted children
A former vet who gave candy to children at a summer camp before sexually assaulting them has admitted drugging his wife so she wouldn’t wake up during the abuse.
Jon Ruben previously admitted sexually assaulting two boys at a summer camp at Stathern Lodge in Stathern, Leicestershire, and child cruelty to six other victims.
Ruben, who sobbed at his defense hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday, admitted that between July 26 and 29 last year, he administered Poison or Temazapam, a harmful substance, to Susan Ruben to prevent her from waking up while he was sexually assaulting the children.
The 76-year-old defendant, who has been running a holiday camp for at least 27 years, said “I am very sorry” after confessing his crime.
Sitting on the pier wearing a blue shirt and beige trousers, Ruben played a “sweet game” with the young people and then laced sedatives to the candies and attacked two children.
The court has previously heard that many young people fell ill after playing, struggled to walk, had slurred speech and were unable to wake up.
Some children “couldn’t be woken up at all” and vomited, while one was left unconscious.
The defendant’s stepson expressed his concerns to his partner after finding baby oil, syringes with white powder and other items while camping.
Following the report made to the police on July 27, eight children were hospitalized, and it was determined that liquid Xanax was used in some of the victims.
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC told the court: “The defendant has been running a holiday camp for at least 27 years.
“There’s a long history of kids feeling sick at camp over many years.”
When Ruben admitted to drugging his wife, he asked for a voluntary statement from the police.
Ms Prior told the court the rented Stathern Lodge was not linked to the camp and Ruben was responsible for the young people there.
In November, he pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a child under 13, assault on a child under 13 by penetration, eight counts of cruelty to children, three counts of creating indecent images of children and four drug charges.
The indecent image charges to which Ruben admitted relate to 50 category A indecent videos of children, 22 category B videos and seven category C videos taken between August 2023 and June last year.
None of the images in question are about kids at summer camp.
He is expected to be sentenced for the crimes on Friday.
This is breaking news, more to come…
