Scott Suspends Southern Manatee Fire Commissioner

Submitted by Anonymous on January 31, 2012 - 6:51pm

Gov. Rick Scott has suspended a commissioner of the Southern Manatee Fire and Rescue District who on Jan. 26 was charged with eight counts of sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation.

Mark D. Ruben, who was first elected to the district in 2000, was charged with molesting three children over seven years, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Confronted by child protection investigators in September 2011, Ruben said he never touched the children inappropriately, the Herald-Tribune reported.