On Record

A Statement from Sophie Lewis on Predator Exposure, Accountability Work, and Public Misinformation

Why I’m Writing This

This statement is not a defence.
It’s not an apology.
It’s a record, one that should have been written sooner.

In the past year, I’ve been called a paedophile, a predator, a sympathiser, a liar, and worse. I’ve been accused of harbouring offenders in my home, of “protecting” men I’ve publicly exposed, and of blurring the very lines I’ve worked so hard to illuminate.

None of it is true.
But the noise has become so loud that silence no longer feels like strength, it feels like surrender.
So here it is, the full picture.

My words. My voice. My work, explained properly, professionally, and without shame.

Who I Am — And Why I Did This Work

My name is Sophie Lewis. I’m a survivor. I’m a writer, an investigative journalist, and the founder of The Grooming Files. I hold a valid NUJ press card and specialise in exposing systemic failures in safeguarding and offender management.

I’m also disabled. I live with lifelong physical and neurological conditions, including Aphantasia, a brain difference that means I cannot picture images in my mind. But what I can do is feel people. Deeply. I process energy, behaviour, contradiction. I don’t imagine, I sense.

And it’s through that lens that I ended up in one of the darkest, most misunderstood corners of modern journalism..
Face-to-face with predators who wanted to confess.

This wasn’t something I sought out. I didn’t plan it.
But when the first man approached me, a predator, mid-spiral, aware he was dangerous and desperate to be exposed. I didn’t look away. I listened.

I said yes to the interview.
And that one moment became a turning point.

The Interviews: What Actually Happened

Let me be absolutely clear: I have never invited a predator into my home. I’ve never hosted them, comforted them, or glorified them.
What I did was investigate them, thoroughly, professionally, and under full public scrutiny.

They came to me voluntarily.
I did not go looking.

They wanted exposure.
I gave them something far more confronting: accountability.

These interviews were not casual conversations. They were structured, psychologically loaded interrogations that aimed to unpack motivation, risk, and system failure. Every question I asked came from a place of lived experience, survivor responsibility, and long-standing frustration at the institutions that continue to fail the public.

I never promised them protection. I never offered friendship. What I offered was the chance to explain themselves, with the full knowledge that I would publish it.

And I did. With clarity. With transcripts. With survivor-framed narrative.

Because people deserve to know how this happens, not just that it does.

What I Found — And Why It Matters

Over time, a disturbing pattern began to emerge.

Multiple men came forward. All unconnected. All confessing, spiralling, struggling with shame, and seeking some form of external control. They weren’t just trying to hide, they were trying to implode in public, hoping someone would stop them before they hurt a child.

And no one was stopping them.
Not the police. Not social services. Not even some of the “exposure groups,” who often chased clout instead of evidence.

I named this pattern for what it was:

The Exposure-Seeking Predator.

A newly emerging typology.
Not well-researched. Not acknowledged in safeguarding protocols.
But real. Documented. And terrifying.

These men weren’t coming forward for redemption.
They were doing it because they didn’t trust themselves and they had nowhere else to go.

If that doesn’t highlight a catastrophic gap in public safety, I don’t know what does.

SafeCheck — What It Was (And What It Wasn’t)

In response to these spirals, I created a pilot system called SafeCheck.

It was a voluntary behavioural accountability framework for high-risk individuals. A space where men who knew they were a risk could submit to strict, structured, non-negotiable daily tasks:

Daily self-monitoring and confessional writing
Monthly reflection tasks
Locked confession files
Zero tolerance for grooming, fantasy, or manipulation

This wasn’t kink.
It wasn’t glorified domination.
It wasn’t therapy.
It was a psychological brake. A structured intervention in a vacuum where nothing else existed.

It was founded by a survivor.
Built from lived experience.
And run with more clarity and consequence than most offender management pathways I’ve witnessed.

Was it experimental? Yes.
Was it ethically heavy? Absolutely.
But it was real. It worked. And it came from a place of responsibility, not spectacle.

SafeCheck is no longer active. I closed it when the emotional toll outweighed the reach. But its existence proved one thing: offenders will submit to structure when it’s survivor-led and shame-proof.

That is data.
That is progress.
And that should never have been reduced to rumours.

The Personal Cost — And My Decision to Keep Going

I’ve paid for this work in more ways than I can count.

I’ve received horrendous message, Death threats. Anonymous abuse.
I’ve had my parenting attacked, my reputation smeared, my face passed around forums with lies under it.

And what was my crime?

Investigating predators before they offend.
Saying what others won’t.
Creating what didn’t exist.

If that makes me a target, so be it.

Because I’d do it all again.
A thousand times over.

The predators I confronted weren’t offered friendship. They were offered a choice:
Face the mirror, or run from it.

Most ran. Some stayed.
None walked away unchallenged.

Why I’m Speaking Now

I’m speaking now because the silence around this work has allowed liars to fill the gap.
Because the people who never read a word of what I published are the loudest in the room.
Because those with no understanding of trauma, journalism, or behavioural science are the ones shouting “paedo protector” from the rooftops.

So here’s the record:

I exposed predators with full consent and legal awareness
I created the first documented profile of the “exposure-seeking predator”
I ran the only survivor-led preventative framework for spiralling offenders
I documented every step — for survivors, not spectators
And I did it while holding space for others who had been through what I had

If you’ve never done that work, you don’t get to rewrite it.

And if you’ve spent your time dragging my name through the dirt, ask yourself what part of you couldn’t handle the truth I held up.

Because I’m not the problem.
I’m the mirror.

Author’s Note / FYI:

Just to clarify, when I referenced “exposure groups chasing clout,” I’m speaking about a very small, reckless minority. The vast majority of groups doing this work are risking everything to protect children, raise awareness, and expose real danger. The courage, grit, and sacrifice involved in doing it right is nothing short of incredible and I’ve got huge respect for the ones who lead with ethics, evidence, and heart. ❤️

Sophie Lewis
Writer | Researcher | Investigative Journalist
Founder – The Grooming Files
NUJ Member | Press Card Holder
July 2025