Fairgrounds Are Crawling With Predators — I Saw It With My Own Eyes

By Sophie Lewis | The Grooming Files | @sophielewiseditorial

He Licked His Lips While Watching A LITTLE GIRL — and He Was Operating The Fucking Ride

Barry Island.
A warm summer day.
Families lined up, kids squealing with joy, adults sipping drinks and chasing toddlers in sun hats.

It was supposed to be a normal afternoon.
It was supposed to be fun.
But what I saw yesterday has left me shaking and sick to my fucking stomach.

I saw a predator.

Not online.
Not on the news.
Not after the damage was done.

Right there. In front of me.
Working a ride. Surrounded by children.
And he wasn’t just standing there.
He was staring.

Not glancing. Not casually watching.
Staring. Locked in. Like she was his.

That little girl on the ride, couldn’t have been more than five or six.
Bright-eyed. Innocent. Oblivious to the man beside her.
But I wasn’t.

Because he didn’t take his eyes off her.
Not for a second.
He wasn’t monitoring the ride.
He wasn’t watching the controls.
He was watching her.

And then, I watched him lick his lips.

Let that land for a second.
He licked his fucking lips.
Staring at that child like she was food.
Like she was already his in some sick, secret way.

His face gave him away, that dirty, twitching grin.
That expression of sick enjoyment, as if he couldn’t believe his luck.
That slight raise of his eyebrows every time she moved.
Like every bounce, every squeal, was doing something for him.

And I was frozen.
Not with fear. With rage.

Because I knew what I was seeing.
I’ve seen that look before.
And I will never unsee it again.

And I’ll be honest…

I wanted to go over there.
I wanted to walk straight up to him, look him in the eyes, and say:
“I see exactly what the fuck you’re doing.”
Because I did.

I wanted to tear the illusion apart, right there in public.
Call it what it was.
Make him flinch. Make him feel seen.
Let everyone around us hear the truth they’re too scared to say.

But I had my children with me.
And in that moment, I chose protection over confrontation.

But next time? I won’t walk away.
I will approach.
I will speak.
And I will shatter the mask these men hide behind.
Because I will not be complicit in silence ever again.

This is what they don’t want us saying:

Fairgrounds are crawling with predators.

This isn’t an isolated incident.
This is a fucking epidemic.
And it’s hiding behind slush puppies, flashing lights and family tickets.

These men travel from town to town, ride to ride.
No DBS checks.
No safeguarding.
No fixed staff lists.
No oversight.
Just unchecked access to children, all day long.

Some of them have records.
Some of them have fantasies.
Some of them have done this before and will do it again.

And the system?
It protects them.
Not the kids.
Them.

Local councils hand out licences like raffle tickets.
No vetting. No tracking.
No questions about who’s running the rides.
No regulations demanding safeguarding officers or reporting procedures.

You want to know why predators love these places?

Because they get to touch your kids.
Lift them onto rides. Smile. Joke. Offer a free go.
Stare.
Stare.
Stare.
And if no one complains? They move on to the next town, like nothing happened.

I watched that man yesterday

And I can’t stop replaying it.

How long had he been watching her before I noticed?
How many other little girls had he looked at the same way?

How many fucking parents have missed it, because the music’s too loud, the kids are laughing, and the world doesn’t want to believe this is happening?

But it is.

I’m not talking about stranger danger.
I’m talking about men with jobs that give them power, proximity, and protection.
Jobs that put them in control of your child, without a single background check.

I saw him.
I watched him enjoy it.
I felt that fire in my chest, the same one survivors carry when they see danger in plain sight and everyone else walks past it.

So here it is. No hiding. No softening.

A man licked his lips while watching a little girl on a children’s ride and he was allowed to do it, because we’ve built a system that lets predators blend in and call it work.

This is what we demand — right fucking now:

Mandatory DBS checks for every fairground and travelling worker
A national public register of all fairground staff and locations
Trained safeguarding officers present on-site — not just “around”
Clear, visible, instant reporting tools for parents and staff
Licensing reforms that put children first, not profit

Because the truth is, we’ve all felt it.

We’ve all seen the man who smiles too long.
The one who touches kids just a bit too comfortably.
The one who doesn’t break eye contact.
The one who hangs around the girls’ ride but disappears when the boys get on.

This isn’t a fear.
It’s a pattern.

And yesterday, in Barry Island… it was right there, in full view.

We can’t pretend it’s harmless anymore.
We can’t dress it up with lights and music and call it fun.
Because behind the booths and the bullshit are men like him.

And if you’re not seeing them?
It’s because you’ve been taught not to.

I saw a predator yesterday.
And now you have too.

Don’t forget his face.
Don’t ignore your gut.
And don’t ever hand your child to a ride operator again without asking:
“Who the fuck is this man and who’s letting him near our kids?”

This is your warning.
This is the fire.
This is the start of the storm.

📢 Have you seen something like this? It’s time to speak. Contact The Grooming Files. We’re not staying silent anymore.