The dark web and drug-laced sweets – how ‘vile’ summer camp leader Jon Ruben betrayed a city to abuse its children
Jon Ruben drugged and sexually abused children at his summer camp. But how did the former veterinary surgeon deceive a whole community? Alex Ross visited Nottingham to find out
Jon Ruben was the pillar of the community. A highly respected retired veterinary surgeon, he offered children in deprived areas of Nottingham an annual free Christian summer camp, packed with outdoor play and educational activities to promote self-confidence.
So popular were the three-day trips, held at the remote Stathern Lodge, 18 miles out of the city, that spaces filled up months before, while charitable groups happily supported the venture with thousands of pounds in donations.
As one local put it, “Jon was like a guiding light for many young kids in the city”.
But the 76-year-old held a disturbing, murky secret – one that even he was apparently tortured by.
While he worked under the facade of offering young people an escape from city life, Ruben hid a deep sexual interest in children that led him to commit horrific crimes, enticing his victims in with what he called the “sweet game”.
Before bedtime, children were offered sweets wrapped in bright purple packaging by Ruben, who would challenge them to eat them quickly, with the winner given a reward, such as a chocolate bar. But unbeknownst to those who ate them, or to his fellow youth camp leaders, Ruben had injected treats with a fast-acting tranquilliser.
As the children lay sedated, Ruben sexually abused two of them at the last holiday camp in July. He even drugged his own wife, Susan, who was also involved in the camp, so he could carry out his attacks undetected.
Ruben was only exposed when his suspicious step-son raised the alarm after discovering syringes, baby oil and white powder in Ruben’s room at the camp.
On Friday, he was jailed for 23 years and 10 months after admitting attacks on two children, as well as eight counts of child cruelty and three counts of making indecent images of children.
“Jon Ruben is a vile, horrific offender who has used his position of trust in the community to allow him to have access to children, in a number of examples where the children are quite vulnerable, and allow himself to gain his own satisfaction, for his own sexual gratification,” said Temporary Detective Inspector Neil Holden, of Leicestershire Police.
Ruben, Det Insp Holden said, used his veterinary experience to choose the right tranquilliser for the “desired effect”, before buying them on the dark web. Injecting the substance into sweets, he said, the children became sedated and were unable to remember the previous evening when they woke.
Medical checks of the children exposed the abuse, and further searches revealed more offending.
Along with the baby oil and drugs, officers found sex toys in Ruben’s room at the lodge. On his electronic devices, a “huge quantity” of indecent images of children were found, many of them of the most serious category.
Disturbingly, an “application form” written by Ruben for an online paedophile group, was also found. In it, he shared his sexual interest in children aged between eight and 12. Handwritten notes were also discovered at his home, showing “a battle with himself” around his sexual interest in children, Det Insp Holden said.
In his police interview, Ruben first refused to comment on his crimes, but even when he did, he failed to show remorse, said Det Insp Holden. Only at a court appearance last week, when he sobbed after pleading guilty to drugging his wife, has he shown any emotion.
The case has devastated those who trusted the former church worker, although very few close to Ruben, or who supported his work, wanted to talk about it in his home village of Ruddington this week.
Ruben’s semi-detached home, situated in an affluent community that was once home to a Premier League footballer, appeared empty on Wednesday, while neighbours were unwilling to talk about him.
Outside St Peter’s Church in the village centre, those who knew of him, including the vicar, did not want to comment on the case, which appears to have hung over the community since his arrest last July.
“A short notice was given on what had happened during a service,” said church-goer Julie Dennis, who added: “I don’t think it’s a reflection of the church, but all the same, it’s been a huge shock for everyone. I don’t think those who knew him can quite believe it still.”
“It’s been a huge betrayal of the church, its community, the whole city – my thoughts are with his victims and their families,” said another woman outside the church.
Ruben’s charity, The Stathern Children’s Holiday Fund, also ran term-time school clubs for 109 children at three schools, including St Peter's Junior School in Ruddington, according to its last set of accounts filed last year.
Demand for places at the camps in 2024 was “very high”, with applications closed several months beforehand. That year, 64 children under the age of 11 went on one of two three-day holidays to Stathern Lodge.
Themed on the Olympics, children decorated the hall at the lodge with an Eiffel Tower, while there were workshops for football and dancing. Many who attended were from the Aspley and Clifton areas of Nottingham, the report said.
Previous annual reports on the camps reveal children congregated in a meeting room at the lodge each evening, where there were “action songs and rewards for behaviour”.
Evidence of support for the camps appeared in the donations, with more than £12,000 given by grant-giving groups and individuals last year. They included £2,150 from the Nottinghamshire-based Roseberry Trust, which supports disadvantaged children, and £2,000 from the JN Derbyshire Trust, which provides grants for charitable projects.
Some £1,500 came from the Dame Agnes Mellers Charity, which, although run independently of Nottingham High School, holds historical links with the independent school, with some employees serving as its trustees.
“Nottingham High School did not authorise or oversee the charity’s donation to The Stathern Children’s Holiday Fund and had no involvement in the running of the camp,” said a school spokesperson. “The donation was made before Jon Ruben’s offending became known.”
They added: “It goes without saying that as a school we place children's welfare at the heart of all we do, and are deeply shocked by Jon Ruben’s abhorrent actions.”
Along with Ruben, who was the honorary secretary of the charity, his family members appear as trustees, with his wife, Susan, listed as chairman. When approached, one trustee declined to comment. Police said Ruben acted alone.
The lodge is run by the Braithwaite Gospel Trust, which is also not connected to Ruben. Situated at the end of a half-mile-long single-lane track, it features three-storey brick buildings, surrounded by open grass. Summer camps still take place there.
On the edge of the car park is a trolley containing bibles with a sign saying “we are in last days, read Revelation”. At an adjoining farm cottage, also owned by the trust, memberAnna Blunt said the church community hoped to move on from the incident.
“My mum wanted to pray in the area at the lodge so it could be cleansed,” she said. “We never want anything like this to happen again.”
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