A paedophile summer camp leader who drugged young boys with tranquilliser-laced sweets is preparing to challenge his prison sentence.
Jon Ruben was jailed for 23 years and 10 months in February following the exposure of his crimes at the Stathern Lodge summer camp. The 77-year-old is scheduled to appear at the Court of Appeal next Friday (October 23), where he will contest the sentence, which included an extended licence period of eight years.
Crimes at Stathern Lodge
Ruben's offences occurred in late July 2025, when over 40 children were residing at Stathern Lodge, near Melton, reports the Nottingham Post. Across two nights, Ruben distributed sweets injected with sedatives to boys before sexually assaulting two of them on the second night, the court was told.
Another adult discovered syringes, vials and drugs in his room and alerted police. Ruben was arrested while eight of the boys were taken to hospital.
Background and modus operandi
For 27 years, Ruben operated summer camps for socially disadvantaged children as a trustee of the Stathern Children's Holiday Fund. He also served on the parochial church council at St Peter's Church in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, and the court heard that he recruited children for the camps from youth clubs, Sunday schools and evening classes.
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC informed Ruben's sentencing hearing on February 6 that he consistently ensured young boys were accommodated in the two rooms closest to him. He singled out each room individually across two evenings in what he described as a "sweet game", handing the boys three sweets laced with sedatives and promising the first to finish off all three would win a chocolate bar.
Guilty plea and sentencing
She explained he deployed a syringe and drew on his expertise as a veterinary surgeon to work out the dosages, and that the substance he procured from the dark web as Temazepam was actually an unlicensed drug dubbed "liquid Xanax". The youngsters in the targeted rooms awoke feeling unwell and groggy, and on the second day, one didn't come round and was left to sleep while the others headed out for lunch.
Mrs Prior stated there was no evidence Ruben sexually assaulted anyone on the first evening, Saturday, July 26, but that this was his aim. Ruben pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court in November to 17 offences. These were sexual assault of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, eight charges of cruelty to persons under 16, three charges of making indecent photographs of children, and drug offences including illegally acquiring Temazepam. He also admitted drugging his wife Susan so she would not wake while the abuse took place.
Mrs Prior said: "He used his cloak of Christianity to poison boys aged eight to 11 in order to sexually abuse them." Thomas Schofield KC, representing Ruben, told the sentencing hearing that his client had saved the children from having to give evidence at a trial by admitting his crimes. He revealed that Ruben had referred to himself as "evil" and a "monster", and anticipated spending the rest of his life behind bars.
