Drugged Camp Horror Stuns Court
A trusted Christian youth camp run for decades turned into a drugged-and-silenced crime scene, exposing how easily kids can be failed when oversight is weak.
Quick Take
- Jon Ruben, 76, pleaded guilty in a UK court to drugging his wife so she would not wake while he abused children at a Leicestershire holiday camp.
- Prosecutors said he used Temazepam on his wife over four nights and laced children’s sweets with tranquilizers, including liquid Xanax, in a “sweet game.”
- Eight children were taken to hospital after becoming seriously unwell; two boys were sexually assaulted and six other children were subject to cruelty offences.
- Ruben also admitted making indecent images of children unrelated to the camp victims, adding to the severity and scope of the case.
Guilty Pleas Detail a Calculated Pattern of Control
Leicester Crown Court heard that Jon Ruben, a former veterinary practitioner from Nottinghamshire, admitted drugging his wife, Susan Ruben, with Temazepam across July 26–29, 2025. Prosecutors said the purpose was blunt: keep her asleep so she would not interrupt what was happening at Stathern Lodge Holiday Camp in Stathern, Leicestershire. Ruben has already pleaded guilty to a wider set of offences involving children, and sentencing was set for February 6, 2026.
Investigators said Ruben used sweets to deliver drugs to children as part of a “sweet game,” leaving them vomiting, slurring words, unconscious, or difficult to rouse. Multiple reports say eight children were hospitalized after becoming ill. Court reporting also outlined that two boys were sexually assaulted, while six other children were victims of cruelty offences connected to the drugging and mistreatment. UK law protects the victims’ identities, limiting publicly available details about the children and families.
A Stepson’s Discovery Triggered the Break in the Case
Police action accelerated after Ruben’s stepson reportedly found items that did not belong near a children’s camp setting, including baby oil and syringes with white powder, and contacted authorities. Officers later arrested Ruben at a nearby pub while he was with children from the camp. Reporting also said liquid Xanax was confirmed in victims, strengthening the evidentiary chain from the children’s sudden medical emergencies to deliberate drug administration.
Authorities described the investigation as both complex and disturbing, emphasizing the number of child victims and the planning involved. Police statements cited in coverage stressed ongoing safeguarding and the use of specially trained officers to support victims and families through the legal process. The court also treated the case as unusually serious because it combined sexual offences, drugging, and betrayal of an entrusted role at a youth program that parents would reasonably assume was safe.
Independent Camps and “Trusted” Institutions Create Blind Spots
Ruben ran the camp for more than 27 years under the umbrella of the Stathern Children’s Holiday Fund, which aimed to provide affordable holidays for children, often from disadvantaged backgrounds. Reports also suggest the lodge was rented and not officially tied to the fund in the way many parents might assume, raising hard questions about how responsibility is tracked. Some accounts described a long history of children feeling sick in the mornings, with concerns dismissed at the time.
That detail matters because it points to a recurring risk: when an institution depends on trust, reputation, and volunteer culture, warning signs can be minimized rather than escalated. The reporting does not establish how many prior incidents, if any, were criminal in nature before 2025, and it does not document earlier formal complaints. The available facts do show that multiple children became dangerously ill at once, and that the resulting medical crisis forced external scrutiny that internal systems did not trigger.
Sentencing Will Test Whether the System Matches the Scale of Harm
Ruben’s admissions include not only the camp offences but also the creation of indecent images of children unrelated to the camp victims, covering a period from August 2023 to June 2025 in the reporting. In court, he was described as apologizing repeatedly. The judge warned that sentencing would be long and difficult, reflecting the number of victims and the breadth of conduct now before the court.
Summer camp sex offender admits drugging wife while he assaulted children https://t.co/KHe0t5zIxr
— The Independent (@Independent) February 4, 2026
For parents and communities—especially those who value faith-based programs—this case lands as a reminder that “Christian-affiliated” is not a safety protocol. Real protection comes from transparent governance, strict vetting, strong supervision rules, and clear reporting channels that bypass any one individual’s control. The available public record focuses on Ruben’s guilty pleas and the immediate timeline; broader reforms for independent holiday camps may follow, but the reporting does not yet confirm specific policy changes.
Sources:
Jon Ruben guilty: summer camp sex offender admits drugging wife while he assaulted children
Summer camp leader Jon Ruben admits drugging wife while he assaulted children
Summer camp leader admits drugging wife while he sexually assaulted children
