A SENTENCING date has been scheduled for a man guilty of child rape and attempting to murder a 10-year-old boy by throwing him from a clifftop.
Anthony Stocks, formerly of Iceni Close, Goring, was found guilty after a trial at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (June 6) of attempting to murder a boy after he tried to intervene with Stocks assaulting an underage girl.
The 54-year-old wanted to ‘marry’ the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and had sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the early 2020s.
Read full verdict piece here: Man GUILTY of attempting to murder 10-year-old boy
It was heard that the boy, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, tried to stop the assaults, resulting in Stocks trying to kill the boy by throwing him from a 100ft clifftop in Ovingdean, Brighton on September 24, 2022.
Stocks was also found guilty of four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, one charge of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of rape of a child on at least three occasions.
READ MORE: Scales of Justice: The latest cases from Oxford Magistrates' Court
A sentencing date has now been set for the same court on July 26. Stocks has been remanded in custody until his hearing.
He made no reaction as the verdicts were read.
Judge Nigel Daly warned that it is expected to be a ‘lengthy custodial sentence’.
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