Anthony Stocks raped girls and pushed her brother off a cliff

Updated 1 hour ago

A man has been found guilty of raping a teenage girl and throwing her brother off a cliff after the boy discovered she was being abused.

Anthony Stocks attempted to kill the boy near Ovingdean, near Brighton, in September 2022.

The 54-year-old from Goring, Oxfordshire, was found guilty of four counts of sexual abuse of a child under 13, inducing a child under 13 to engage in sexual conduct and rape of a child under 13.

He was also found guilty of attempted murder.

The boy survived the fall from a height of 30.5 meters, but suffered serious injuries.

Police described his recovery as “miraculous.”

The jury heard how Stocks told the girl about his plan and she warned her brother.

In recorded interviews, the girl stated that Stocks forced her to perform sexual acts.

Afterwards, her brother tried to put himself between Stocks and her if possible, Oxford Crown Court heard.

The boy described how he “stepped in and stopped everything – (Stocks) was, I think, really upset.”

The girl said that on another day, Stocks told her regarding her brother, “I want to get rid of him so we can be alone and he won’t get in our way.”

She added: “All I remember is that he wanted to push him off a cliff.”

The girl said she was “concerned” and warned her brother that same evening.

The boy said he was on a trip with Stocks, who the family knows, to visit his favourite football club in London on the day of the attack, when he was asked if he wanted to “go and see a view”.

He said they took a taxi there because the place was featured in the movie Quadrophenia.

He said the boy had become “a little moody” and he warned him not to cross a safety fence near the cliff edge.

On an earlier occasion, Stocks had taken the boy to a quarry to push him in, but then changed his mind, the trial heard.

The jury was told that Stocks had once appeared as an extra in a film and had appeared in the Star Wars series as well as JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

When he was arrested, police found thousands of pornographic images and videos on his phone, all of which were “legal,” according to his lawyer.

However, the jury asked a series of questions about his internet searches after the defense team had previously acknowledged that he had watched films about adults having sex with younger people.

The verdict against Stocks will be announced “in due course,” the judge said.

Det. Sergeant Rachel Jackson, of Thames Valley Police’s child abuse investigation unit, said Stocks had committed “absolutely appalling and evil offences”.

“Over a period of about three years, Stocks had sexually abused and raped the girl, and when the boy realized what was happening, Stocks hatched an evil plan to kill him,” she said.

“What happened next was simply horrific.

“Stocks took the boy to one of the highest cliffs in the area and threw him from the top, knowing full well that he would almost certainly have died.”

She said he “intended to kill the boy to get him out of the way so he could continue his crimes against the girl – this failed.”

“He is a very dangerous individual who only thinks about himself and protects himself from prosecution by taking the boy out of the equation,” she continued.

“He has shown no remorse whatsoever throughout the investigation.

“I would like to thank both victims for their incredible courage and determination in helping us bring Stocks to justice.”

She described the investigation as “without doubt one of the worst cases of child abuse I have investigated.”