FOR 17 years detectives were baffled by the mystery of the tramp who managed to evade detection after a series of seemingly random and brutal sex attacks on teenage girls.
His distraught victims, aged between 13 and 16, all told how an apparently uneducated and badly dressed man had struck as they walked along remote paths in Surrey.
It was revealed yesterday that their attacker was in fact Anthony De Boise, a 58-year-old architect who worked as a senior council official. He had assumed the identity of a down-and-out to prey on young girls and lead police astray.
In each of the six cases, the married father of two wore a stained tracksuit and dirty trainers before threatening to kill his victims. Some girls had a knife placed to their throats and were ordered to undress. Others were tied up.
Wearing a suit and tie, De Boise, a former building inspector for Wandsworth council in southwest London, admitted six charges of indecent assault dating back to 1989 at Southwark Crown Court yesterday. He was eventually trapped by DNA evidence and will be sentenced at a later hearing.
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Hiding behind his image as a respected family man from a small Surrey village, De Boise was convinced that he had got away with his crimes.
But in April last year he was arrested after one of his relatives accused him of stealing money. It was the first time that he had come to the attention of police.
Although the charge was eventually dropped, officers took a DNA sample from De Boise. It was then discovered that that sample matched the DNA taken from his last two known attacks on two 13 year-olds and a 14-year-old in 1995 and 1996. The unsolved cases were reopened in 2003 as part of the Metropolitan Police’s cold cases review.
Police now believe that De Boise may be responsible for more attacks on girls who may have been too scared to come forward.
A police source told The Times last night: “He led a seemingly normal existence, was a family man who was intelligent and had a very successful career. But he carried out a 17-year reign of terror in the Surrey area.
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“Detectives suspect that these are not the only offences he has committed. His job gave him the opportunity to leave the office regularly and to travel to different places.
“Anyone who was attacked under similar circumstances but didn’t report the crime we would urge to contact police immediately.”
All of the attacks took place during the day and were within a 20-mile radius of his £500,000 home in Holmbury St Mary, near Dorking. They started in June 1989 and ended in June 1996.
Some girls were snatched while playing with friends while others were jumped on as they walked home alone.
With his extensive knowledge of the local area, De Boise would drag the girls to a secluded part of a common or wood and force them to perform sexual acts.
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On three occasions he molested girls in Hinchley Wood on Telegraph Hill, a short distance from Surbiton golf course in Oxshott. Other assaults happened in Coulsdon Woods, near Coulsdon Court public golf course, and Riddlesdown Common, Purley.
In August 1995 he carried out a double attack on two 13-year-old girls by threatening one with a knife as the other was forced to perform a sex act on him. He then made them swap over. One victim was able to injure De Boise by lashing out at him with a dog chain that she was carrying.
As police became increasingly concerned that he was growing in confidence and had started carrying a knife, detectives appealed for help to catch him by outlining the cases on the BBC Crimewatch television programme. But the description of the dishevelled suspect failed to produce new leads.
De Boise worked for the GLC before it was abolished in 1986. He then became a building inspector for Wandsworth.
De Boise will be sentenced in August after psychiatric reports are prepared on him. A charge of kidnapping was left on file.
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COLD CASES SOLVED BY SCIENCE
Andrew McMullen first offender caught by a cold case team. Jailed for three years at Bradford Crown Court in January 2003 after admitting raping a 17-year-old girl in 1992
Lee and Stephen Ainsby caught ten years after raping a 17-year-old girl in Banbury. Lee, 32, was held for being drunk and disorderly and his DNA taken. Knowing the attackers were related led police to Stephen, 34. They were jailed for ten years for rape and five for kidnap
Donald Thomas raped a 13-year-old and indecently assaulted her 14-year-old friend in Birmingham. Thirteen years later DNA that he left at the scene was matched to a sample he gave as he served a drugs sentence. He was sentenced to another seven years
Andrew Everton was convicted of the 1992 sex attack on a 14-year-old girl in March last year. He was jailed for seven years in Birmingham. He had previously been convicted of raping a prostitute in 1994
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David Kirby preyed on a courting couple in Kent, in 1989 — 15 years later he gave DNA to eliminate himself from a separate inquiry and was trapped. He was jailed for 13 years