An investigative series ©️ by Sophie Lewis | The Grooming Files | @sophielewiseditorial
“Another predator came to me. Begging to be exposed.
It’s happening again — and it is not an accident.”
When the first predator came to me — voluntarily — I thought it was a disturbing one-off.
When the second predator came to me — from another country — unprompted — begging for public exposure — I realised I was watching something much darker unfold.
I am now documenting what I believe to be a new phase of systemic failure — and a new public risk no one is prepared for:
Predators spiralling toward exposure — seeking it — because they know they will offend again — and the system is not stopping them.
The Psychology No One Is Reporting
Predators are not supposed to want exposure.
They are supposed to hide, evade, deny.
But what I am seeing — and what professionals recognise — is something different: an escalation spiral where the offender knows they are losing control.
Here is what that spiral looks like:
Guilt builds → they know what they are doing is wrong
Compulsion builds → they cannot stop fantasising
Fear of reoffending builds → they know they will do it again
Desperation builds → they seek external punishment, exposure, anything that might stop them
This is a dangerous new phase of predator behaviour — and it is going largely unreported and unmanaged.
“I Want to Be Exposed” — What That Really Means
When a predator contacts me — or an exposure group — saying “I want to be exposed”, it is not a sign of reform.
It is a sign of escalation.
It means the offender is nearing a breaking point:
They no longer believe they can stop
They no longer trust the system to stop them
They are trying to force an external intervention — or in some cases, perversely get gratification from the exposure itself
This is why these cases are so dangerous — and why they must be handled with extreme care and professional framing.
Why Exposure Groups Are Not Equipped
Many exposure groups are built around the classic sting model:
Catch a predator in chat logs
Arrange a confrontation
Get a “clean” public result
Exposure-seeking predators do not fit this model.
They come voluntarily — without being “caught” — with no fresh chat logs — and often in a psychological spiral that groups are not trained to manage.
As a result:
Many groups ignore them
Many groups fear the legal grey area
Some groups engage in ways that actually feed the offender’s spiral — giving them the attention or humiliation they are seeking in unhealthy ways
This is why professional, survivor-led journalism must step in — to document this behaviour properly — and to protect the public from the risks these cases present.
Why Law Enforcement Is Missing the Window
Law enforcement faces another blindspot here.
If a predator is not breaching a court order, not actively contacting a child at that moment, not committing a clear new offence — there is often no clear legal pathway to intervene swiftly.
But exposure-seeking behaviour IS a risk behaviour.
It signals that the offender is escalating — and that children are at imminent risk if no action is taken.
The system is not currently equipped to respond to this risk signal.
I have now reported two such cases. In both, the predators remained free.
This is a systemic failure — and it is a failure happening right now.
The Danger of Exposure as a Fetish
There is another dark layer to this behaviour that must be acknowledged — carefully.
For some predators in this spiral, the act of seeking exposure becomes part of the compulsion itself.
They begin to sexualise the humiliation
They seek out groups or journalists in hopes of a “shaming ritual” that feeds their twisted psychology
If not handled correctly, this can become a dangerous loop — where public exposure reinforces, rather than reduces, the compulsion
This is why I handle these cases with strict survivor-led framing:
I do not engage in shaming theatrics
I do not platform the offender’s voice without clear editorial framing
I focus on systemic failure and public risk — not on feeding the offender’s spiral
It is critical that exposure groups and journalists understand this — or we risk making the problem worse.
How Big Is This Pattern?
This is not about one man. It is not about two men.
I am now hearing — across exposure groups and survivor networks — that this is happening more frequently:
Predators seeking exposure
Predators spiralling publicly
Predators contacting multiple groups in desperation
And still — the system has no clear response.
No professional pathway exists to catch these offenders at this critical stage.
No standard model exists for handling exposure-seeking behaviour ethically and effectively.
And meanwhile — children remain at risk.
What Must Change — Now
We need:
Immediate professional pathways for intervening when exposure-seeking behaviour is identified
Clear training for exposure groups on how to handle these cases responsibly
Law enforcement recognition that this is a red flag behaviour requiring urgent response
Public awareness that predators are now spiralling toward exposure — and that ignoring them will not make them go away
This is why I will continue this series.
Because when predators are begging to be stopped — and no one is stopping them — that is a failure we cannot afford to ignore.
The Grooming Files 
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