Jon Ruben has appeared in court facing child cruelty charges and gave no indication of his plea
A 76-year-old man has appeared in court facing child cruelty charges after children fell ill at a summer camp in Leicestershire.
Jon Ruben was arrested after eight children and one adult at the camp at Stathern Lodge, Stathern, were taken to hospital on Monday. All have since been discharged.
The pensioner appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with three counts of wilfully assaulting, ill-treating, neglecting, abandoning or exposing children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.
The court was told the charges relate to sweets that were allegedly laced with sedatives.
Mr Ruben was remanded in custody by chair of the magistrates Elizabeth Needham and told he will appear at Leicester Crown Court on 29 August.
The defendant, from Ruddington in Nottinghamshire, stood in the dock wearing a grey sweatshirt and spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during the four-minute hearing.
He gave no indication of his pleas to the court.
Ruben is the secretary and trustee of a Christian charity which was running the three-day holiday camp some 45 children were attending last week.
He runs the Stathern Children’s Holiday Fund alongside his wife, The Times reported, which organises subsidised holidays for children from disadvantaged areas of Nottingham.
The charity calls says its summer camps are “safe havens for fostering friendships, building skills and sparking potential”. Children of all faiths are welcome at the camps.
Police said the “owners and operators of Stathern Lodge are independent from those people who use or hire the lodge and are not connected to the incident”. The lodge is a converted farmhouse with a sports hall and catering facilities.
Leicestershire Police said it first received a report that children at a summer camp on the site had become unwell on Sunday.
Neighbours described seeing distressed parents outside the village hall in nearby Plungar, which was used as a triage centre for the children on Monday.
The eight children – who were all boys aged between eight and 11 – and an adult were taken to hospital as a precaution but have since been discharged.
Ruben was then arrested on Monday evening at a pub on suspicion of administering poison or a noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy. The ill treatment of a child can result in a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the prosecution of Ruben for child cruelty offences. Janine McKinney, the chief crown prosecutor for CPS East Midlands, said: “This has been an extremely upsetting and shocking moment for the community, and especially for the children and parents most directly affected.”
Leicestershire Police also referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of the incident. It previously said the incident happened on Monday, before amending it to Sunday.
It is still unclear when officers responded and whether that is why the watchdog referral has been made.
The investigation is being led by the East Midlands special operations unit’s major incident team.