Police officers investigated for gross misconduct after considerations raised over response to summer time camp abuse

Police officers are facing a gross misconduct investigation over their response to calls from a summer camp where children were given drug-laced sweets and sexually assaulted.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced it would be investigating officers and staff from two forces following the sentencing of retired vet Jon Ruben, who used his ‘cloak of Christianity’ to prey on young boys. 

Ruben was jailed at Leicester Crown Court for 23 years and 10 months over the sex attacks he carried out while running a summer camp at Stathern Lodge, in Stathern, Leicestershire, last year. 

The IOPC said Nottinghamshire Police received information on an evening in July last year raising concerns over the safety of children at the camp, which was logged and passed to Leicestershire Police.

Eight children and one adult fell ill at the camp, but it was not until 4pm the following day that the Leicestershire force attended the camp and arrested 76-year-old Ruben.

The watchdog said two Leicestershire Police officers and three staff members are under gross misconduct investigation ‘for allegedly failing to review the information passed by Nottinghamshire Police and not progressing safeguarding concerns promptly, and if this may have delayed officers going to Stathern Lodge’.

The IOPC added that two staff members at Nottinghamshire Police have also been served with gross misconduct notices ‘over the grading of the initial call made to the force, how information from the call was risk assessed and managed, and if this caused a delay to the response’.

Leicestershire Police referred itself to the IOPC over its handling of the incident in July and the watchdog said it began investigating the Nottinghamshire force in December.

The police watchdog said its inquiries were focused ‘on what happened in the hours between the initial notification and police attendance at the camp’.

IOPC Director Emily Barry said: ‘We know that this incident has caused shock and distress, particularly to the children and families directly affected.

‘Our initial enquiries have expanded significantly and we are now looking at the way both Notts Police and Leics Police responded to the very serious concerns raised about the children who were staying at Stathern Lodge last summer.

‘We have gathered relevant documentation regarding policies and procedures for both police forces, as well as identifying witnesses and obtaining statements. We are keeping all interested parties updated.’

Ruben 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, Leicester Crown Court heard last week.

He also drugged his wife, Susan, to ensure she would not wake up while the abuse took place.

Footage shows the moment Ruben was arrested, with the disgraced summer camp leader seen getting into the back of a police van.

He had been helping to run camps at Stathern Lodge for 30 years, and police fear he could be at the centre of a ‘huge, historical abuse case’.

The 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.

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.’

 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 leaned 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 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.