An anti-migrant protester who filmed himself at recent demonstrations and called for the “protection of women and children” has been unmasked as a convicted paedophile.
Anthony Styles, 59, had shared videos to his YouTube channel AJ Audits of himself outside asylum seeker hotels in London and Epping, amassing thousands of subscribers to his channel.
In several of his recordings, he interviewed fellow protesters who described migrants as sexual predators who made local children feel unsafe, as well as linking them to grooming gangs.
However, it has now been revealed that Styles has previously served more than four years behind bars after being convicted in 2017 of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 14.
The YouTuber had also admitted to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl and possessing hundreds of indecent images of children five years previously, and had received a three-year community order.
He has also been placed on the sex offenders register for life and has been handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The most serious offence took place in Blackpool in 1993, after he sexually abused a girl as she sat on his knee after school. He was not convicted until more than 20 years after the incident, with his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stating that she had been psychologically affected by the assault.
“The victim was in the habit of coming back to the flats after school. It is on one of those occasions, when she was in the defendant’s sole company in her school uniform, sitting on his knee, as the defendant watched TV,” Judge Robert Altham said during the case in 2017, according to the Blackpool Gazette.
“He only ceased from this conduct when his partner was coming in, at which stage he got up. Nothing was said at the time, but she subsequently raised it with her, and he made an admission of sorts.
“At the time, he passed it off as accidental touching. But in his trial, Styles denied the events ever took place. She has described that this incident has had a significant effect on her.”
Styles, who uses a wheelchair due to a degenerative illness, had kept his convictions hidden from fellow far-right activists when attending rallies and demonstrations.
They were uncovered by the campaign group Stand Up To Racism, who spotted his name printed on a fake press pass that he had created over summer.
In recent days, he has been kicked out of various private groups and has been ostracised from the anti-migrant protest movement, with posts on Facebook calling for him to be shunned.
In one post, a fellow protester wrote: “I want to make it known that this streamer, AJ Audits, is not welcome at any of Norwich’s future demos.This man, named Anthony Styles, is a convicted child sex offender. Found with over 300 indecent images of children, sexually assaulting an 11-year-old, and also an upset 17-year-old, this man is NOT to be around near children, nor survivors.”
Lewis Nielsen, a Stand Up to Racism anti-fascist officer, told The Times: “These revelations show the far right have never cared about women’s rights, they’ve been harbouring convicted offenders in their midst.
“The hypocrisy is off the charts. This man has claimed to be protecting women and girls while hiding his own convictions.”
