UK Grooming Crisis Deepens: TikTok Predator Gets 9 Years for Assaulting Schoolgirl While National Inquiry Hits Roadblocks

A Scottish man who groomed and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl he met on TikTok has been jailed for nine years, as public concern grows over the UK's handling of child exploitation cases.

Gary Shields, 37, was admitted to raping a child under 13 and meeting a child after grooming. The offences began when Shields, posing as a 19-year-old online, started communicating with the girl, complimenting her and assuring her they could 'make it work' despite her age.

Preston Crown Court heard that he persuaded the schoolgirl to send explicit photos before arranging to meet her in Penwortham, Lancashire. Judge Michael Maher said Shields 'groomed her for a number of weeks' before driving her to a secluded car park at Penwortham Holme, where the assault took place.

'She was two decades your junior, but the fact she was wearing her school uniform provided you with a sexual frisson,' Judge Maher told Shields. After the attack, Shields dropped the girl near her home and later boasted about the assault to other men in an online group.

'Pimped out' to Paedophile Ring

Following the assault, Shields added the victim to a group chat with other paedophiles, sharing her photo and encouraging explicit commentary. Judge Maher described this as 'tantamount to pimping her out.' One member of the group referred to the child as a 'solid 12-year-old.'

The abuse came to light when the victim's mother checked her daughter's phone and discovered the messages. Police later arrested Shields, who admitted meeting the girl but initially denied that any sexual contact had taken place.

According to reports, he later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years in prison with an additional year on licence. In her victim impact statement, the girl said she felt 'fear, stupidity and embarrassment,' describing the humiliation of being discussed and objectified in the group chat.

National Review Exposes Investigative Failings

The case comes amid fresh revelations that human error may have led to hundreds of grooming-related cases being wrongly closed. Early findings from Operation Beaconport, a National Crime Agency (NCA) review of historical grooming cases, have uncovered significant investigative failings.

Deputy Director Nigel Leary of the NCA stated that the operation has already identified cases where 'available lines of inquiry... could have been pursued' but were not, citing 'potentially human error' as a contributing factor. He added that some police investigations 'haven't followed what we would characterise as proper investigative practice,' resulting in no further action being taken against suspects.

Operation Beaconport was launched earlier this year to examine thousands of cases between January 2010 and March 2025 where police or the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed. So far, 1,273 cases from 23 police forces have been referred, including 236 allegations of rape now being prioritised.

Leary described the project as 'the most comprehensive investigation of its type in UK history,' with thousands of officers expected to contribute to the review.

National Inquiry Stalls Amid Leadership Concerns

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called the grooming gangs scandal 'one of the darkest moments in this country's history' and said the government had launched Operation Beaconport 'to track down the evil child rapists that perpetrated these crimes, and put them behind bars where they belong.'

The operation runs alongside a separate national public inquiry into grooming gangs in England and Wales, announced earlier this year by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, that inquiry has struggled to get underway amid disagreements about its remit and reluctance among senior judges and lawyers to chair it.

Sources cited by The Guardian reported that potential candidates were hesitant to take on the politically sensitive inquiry due to fears of media scrutiny and uncertainty about its scope.

As the national inquiry faces uncertainty, survivors and advocacy groups say that justice for victims cannot wait. Multiple survivors have recently resigned from the Victims and Survivors Liaison Panel, including Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds, who stepped down on 20 October 2025.

For them, the TikTok predator's case is not an isolated crime but a reminder of a crisis that the UK still struggles to confront.