A man who spiked candy with sedative and distributed them to children at a summer program in Leicestershire has confessed to sexual crimes against two young males who were nine and ten years old.
The defendant was arrested after eight youngsters and one adult fell ill at the location in mid-summer.
The elderly man, from Ruddington in Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to a multiple criminal counts when he was present at the courthouse on Friday.
Nevertheless, he disputed one particular crime he was facing, which was involving a young boy.
The defendant was held in detention before a subsequent court date on November 28th.
'Candy game'
The prosecutor, prosecuting, detailed the criminal behavior to the judicial body.
She said his targets were children from difficult backgrounds who were participating in a summer program which he operated.
Ruben conducted a "treat game" with the youngsters, the prosecutor explained, in which he would access the children's bedrooms when they were preparing to sleep and tell them to ingest treats "as quickly as they can".
She informed the proceedings the man had conducted this practice with the children "over an extended period", and youngsters had previously fallen ill the following morning.
She explained the man had been successful in rationalizing this repeatedly as the children being "overstimulated by activities", until his family member had concerns in recently.
The legal representative stated further: "Recently" his stepchild had suspicions about what was going on, for good reason.
"They chose" to investigate in the individual's items."
The legal counsel explained objects including infant oil, petroleum jelly and syringes were discovered, and his family member contacted the authorities about his worries.
She stated the defendant continued to engage in the "sweet game" with six youngsters that night - Saturday 26 July - and they were all ill the next day.
"Law enforcement" had not responded by that stage," she added.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, had stated that it was investigating Leicestershire Police's handling of the situation.
The legal representative said the children were having difficulty walking due to their sickness, so the stepson notified the authorities again.
She said the man then conducted the "treat game" in a area of five children.
