A former Dumfries police officer who opened an ice cream shop has been charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a then-teenage boy who attended the middle school where he coached wrestling.
Joseph Ruhren, 41, of Triangle, was charged Wednesday after an investigation that began in August 2010, the Prince William County Police Department said.
Ruhren sexually assaulted the victim from 1996 to 2001, when the victim was between 12 and 16 years old. The victim, who is now 27 and living in Fredericksburg, attended Graham Park Middle School where Ruhren coached wrestling, police said. Ruhren also was a police officer during that time.
During the time of the assaults, the victim lived in locations in the Woodbridge and Dumfries areas, police said. Ruhren lived in Dumfries, Woodbridge and Triangle in this time period, and the assaults took place at his residences.
Ruhren was served arrest warrants Wednesday at Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, where he is serving a sentence for violating his probation for prescription fraud, officials said. The new charges are 12 counts of forcible sodomy, four counts of indecent liberties, four counts of carnal knowledge, two counts of crimes against nature and one count of aggravated sexual battery.
Prince William County police received assistance in the investigation from the FBI, spokeswoman Lindsay Godwin said.
Dumfries Police Capt. Becca Edwards said Ruhren worked for the department from 1996 to 2004. Town Manager Dan Taber said Ruhren was a patrol officer and resigned from the department in good standing.
Around the time Ruhren resigned from the police department, he opened JoJo’s Original Softserve in Dumfries.
Taber said he typically goes to JoJo’s a couple of times a month when its open during the warmer months.
He described the business as a “social epicenter of the town,” where there are tables and a grassy area where people congregate.
“It’s just a social-gathering place,” Taber said. “It’s a very family-friendly place to go.”
