A paedophile, Anthony Stocks, 54, pushed a boy off a 100ft cliff in a calculated plan to prevent him from revealing that he was raping a young girl, resulting in the boy sustaining lifelong injuries. Stocks had been subjecting the young girl to rape and sexual assaults for three years while living in east Oxfordshire. After the girl confided in the boy, who tried to prevent Stocks’ offending, he decided to murder the boy by taking him to a cliff in Ovingdean. Emergency services airlifted the boy to St George’s Hospital in London, where he had multiple severe injuries. Stocks was convicted of attempted murder, rape, sexual assault of a child under 13, and causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 and a half years. Detective Sergeant Rachel Jackson praised the victims for their courage and resolve in bringing Stocks to justice, calling it one of the worst cases of child abuse she has dealt with.
Paedophile Anthony Stocks who raped girl and threw boy off 100ft Brighton cliff jailed
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A paedophile who pushed a boy off a 100ft cliff to prevent him from revealing that he was raping a young girl has been jailed.
Anthony Stocks, 54, launched a calculated plan to kill the 10-year-old boy by taking him to a set of cliffs at Ovingdean in September 2022, with his victim left with lifelong injuries.
The fall was initially thought to be accidental but an investigation found that Stocks had carried out his actions to cover up three years of horrific child abuse.
While living at an address in east Oxfordshire between 2019 and 2022, he had repeatedly been subjecting a young girl to rape and multiple sexual assaults.
After she confided in the young boy, who made concerted efforts to prevent Stocks’ offending, he hatched his plan to murder the youngster.
The case was heard at Oxford Crown Court (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)
He had previously taken to him to a quarry but changed his mind, but decided later that year to take the boy to see Chelsea Football Club and then to the cliff in Ovingdean. Stocks had also told his female victim that he was planning on pushing the boy, who sustained multiple severe injuries.
Emergency services airlifted the boy to St George’s Hospital in London, where he had several fractures and a laceration of his spleen and kidney.
Following a trial, Stocks, formerly of Goring-on-Thames, was unanimously convicted of attempted murder, rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He has now been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 19 and a half years.
Detective Sergeant Rachel Jackson, of Thames Valley Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “I am pleased that today, Stocks has been handed a very significant sentence for his horrific and evil offences against two young children.
“Stocks is an extremely dangerous individual, who had no thought about anybody but himself, to protect himself from prosecution by removing the boy from the equation.
“He has never shown any remorse throughout the course of this investigation.
“I would like to praise both victims for their unbelievable courage and resolve that helped us to bring Stocks to justice.
“They showed immense maturity and clarity, both in their interviews with police and at court, about what had happened to them.
“It’s because of this truly inspirational courage that Stocks has now been brought to justice and will now be in prison for long time, where he deserves to be.
“In my years investigating child abuse, this is one of the worst cases I have dealt with, and the impact that this has had on both victims, as well as all of the officers and staff who investigated this, is not to be underestimated.”
Read the full story on www.independent.co.uk
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/anthony-stocks-paedophile-brighton-cliff-jailed-b2586835.html