©️ An investigative series by Sophie Lewis | The Grooming Files | @sophielewiseditorial
“Twice now, predators have come to me voluntarily — begging to be stopped.
We have a systems failure. And it is happening right now.”
It should not be happening at all.
Predators — in an active escalation spiral — openly admitting they will offend again — contacting journalists and groups because they know they are dangerous — and still walking free.
But it is happening.
I have now documented two such cases — in two countries — and I am hearing it is happening more.
Predators who know they are spiralling are turning to exposure groups, to journalists, to the public — because the systems meant to protect children are failing to intervene.
And what happens next is even more alarming.
The Groups Are Not Ready
Many exposure groups run on the same basic model:
Catch a predator contacting a decoy child
Build a chat log
Arrange a confrontation
Deliver a clear public outcome
It works — in those cases.
But exposure-seeking predators do not fit this model.
They do not arrive via chat logs. They do not attempt a meet.
They come unprompted — already spiralling — already seeking external punishment or control.
And the groups are not equipped to handle it.
When Matt — the Australian offender at the centre of this case — began spiralling, he contacted multiple exposure groups in both Australia and the UK.
“I want to be exposed,” he told them.
And what happened?
Some ignored him.
Some engaged briefly, then backed away.
None took clear or coordinated action to escalate the risk.
The result? Matt kept spiralling.
By the time he reached me, he had already openly admitted to:
Ongoing sexual fantasies about children
Actively masturbating to images of real children on public platforms
Having taken a sexualised photo of a child in public
Willingness to rape a child if given the opportunity
And still — no intervention had occurred.
This is not a criticism of individual groups.
It is a criticism of a system that has no coherent response for this phase of risk.
Exposure groups were never designed to handle this type of offender.
And unless they adapt — carefully and ethically — they risk leaving the most dangerous predators free to spiral unchecked.
“When a person begins spiralling into risk behaviour, early intervention is critical. Waiting for an offence to occur means we have already failed the child.”
— NSPCC Chief Executive Sir Peter Wanless
The Police Are Missing the Window
Law enforcement faces a different — but equally dangerous — blindspot.
If a predator is not breaching a court order — not committing a clear new offence — there is often no legal pathway to intervene swiftly.
Exposure-seeking behaviour — openly contacting journalists or groups — is not currently classified as an actionable offence.
But it should be treated as a red flag.
In Matt’s case:
I reported him formally to UK Police and to Australian Federal Police.
I documented that he was actively seeking exposure because he knew he would offend again.
And at the time of writing — Matt remains free.
He knows it, too.
In the days after his interview, he began messaging me again — not to apologise, but to backpedal and minimise:
“I wouldn’t actually do it,” he said — after openly stating on record that he would.
“I feel bad about it,” he added — after stating on record that he only felt bad because he was caught.
And in one chilling moment of clarity, he asked me:
“Is there anyone that would do paedophile monitoring — reporting, check-ups, location monitoring — breaches reported to police?”
He knew the system was not stopping him.
He was trying to force someone — anyone — to.
And still, no action.
“The compulsion to offend online escalates rapidly without intervention, often driving offenders to take greater risks — including public or semi-public exposure of their behaviour.”
— Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)
Why This Is Happening Now
Why now?
Because we have created a generation of predators whose compulsions were fed online from an early age — unchecked — while systems failed to catch up.
The explosion of child-accessible content, the collapse of meaningful digital monitoring, and the rise of self-reinforcing online communities have driven predators to the point where they now spiral publicly — seeking exposure, forced intervention, or even gratification from being caught.
This is a new phase of predator psychology — one born of the digital age — and it is happening in multiple countries, right now.
A New Phase of Offender Behaviour — And a New Risk
This is not about Matt.
It is not about the first predator I documented.
It is about a new phase of offender behaviour that no one is ready for:
Predators spiralling into exposure-seeking
Contacting multiple groups and journalists
Trying to force external intervention — or worse, deriving a twisted gratification from the exposure process itself
Remaining free — and dangerous — while the system struggles to respond
I am hearing of this happening more — across multiple countries — and I will continue to document it.
Because right now — the public is not being protected.
The Public Danger — Right Now
While groups debate how to handle these cases — and police wait for legal thresholds to be crossed — predators like Matt remain free.
And in that window of freedom, they are:
Fantasising daily
Seeking out child content online
Contacting exposure groups
Attempting to trigger public exposure
Admitting they would offend if not stopped
This is not a theoretical risk.
It is an immediate, active threat to children.
And ignoring it will not make it go away.
What Must Change — Now
We must:
Immediate development of legal pathways for police to act on exposure-seeking behaviour — not after an offence, but at the point of clear escalation.
Professional training and protocols for exposure groups — so they can handle these cases ethically and escalate them properly.
Coordinated safeguarding responses — this cannot be left to fragmented volunteer groups and individual journalists.
Public awareness — parents, professionals, and communities must understand that this pattern is happening NOW.
The Fight Is Not Over
“When predators are coming to journalists because they know the system won’t stop them — that is not a broken system.
That is a system in freefall.
And I will not stop documenting it until we fix it.”
“Predators Are Slipping Through the Cracks — And They Are Coming to Me to Be Exposed.”
A survivor-led investigative series documenting a new phase of systemic failure — when predators beg to be stopped, and the system does nothing.
The Grooming Files 
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