A person who laced candy with sleeping medication and distributed them to minors at a youth camp in the region has confessed to sexual offences against two young males who were between nine and ten.
The defendant was taken into custody after eight youngsters and an older person became sick at the facility in mid-summer.
The senior citizen, from the Nottinghamshire area, pleaded guilty to a total of 17 charges when he appeared at the courthouse on recently.
Yet, he refused to admit a single sexual charge he was accused of, which was involving a nine-year-old boy.
The defendant was remanded in custody prior to a further hearing on November 28th.
'Sweet game'
Mary Prior KC, handling the case, detailed Ruben's offending to the legal proceedings.
She stated his victims were under-privileged children who were staying at a youth camp which he ran.
The defendant conducted a "treat game" with the minors, the legal counsel stated, in which he would go into the children's bedrooms when they were settling down and tell them to consume candy "as fast as possible".
She stated to the judge the man had played this game with the young males "over an extended period", and minors had previously become sick the following morning.
She said Ruben had been capable of justifying this for many years as the minors being "overexcited from fun", until his family member had concerns in summer 2025.
Mrs Prior KC continued: "Recently" his family member had worries about the activities, for good reason.
"They resolved" to examine in the man's possessions."
The legal counsel said items including lubricant, petroleum jelly and medical needles were found, and his stepchild contacted the police about his concerns.
She stated the defendant went on to conduct the "candy game" with six boys that evening - July 26th - and they were all sick the subsequent day.
"The police had not arrived by that point," she continued.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, previously told that it was investigating Leicestershire Police's handling of the incident.
Mrs Prior stated the children were struggling to walk due to their sickness, so the stepson called the law enforcement a second time.
She said the defendant then played the "treat game" in a room of five youngsters.
