Ex-Labour minister arrested on suspicion of child sex offences released on bail
A FORMER Labour minister arrested on suspicion of child sex offences has been released on bail.
Ivor Caplin, MP for Hove from 1997 to 2005, was let out yesterday morning following a sting operation by online paedophile hunters.
Sussex Police said Mr Caplin, also a former Brighton and Hove city councillor, was one of two men arrested on Saturday afternoon.
Police said: “A 66-year-old man arrested on suspicion of engaging in online sexual communications with a child has been released on bail.
“A 40-year-old man also arrested on suspicion of engaging in online sexual communications with a child has also been released on bail.”
Mr Caplin was suspended from the Labour party last year because of undisclosed “serious allegations”, which he denies.
The former Labour minister was arrested on Saturday after he was filmed allegedly trying to meet with a 15-year-old child he met online.
The ex-Hove MP was stopped at his local train station by activist group Stop Stings who told The Sun they had arranged to meet him there posing as an “underage boy”.
A video showing Caplin wearing a red Adidas cap, dogtooth navy trench coat and ripped jeans went viral last night after it was released on the Stop Stings Facebook profile.
The group’s leader Dean Rowland, who had travelled from Derbyshire with six other members of his team, is heard accusing Caplin of sending inappropriate messages over the internet to a person posing as a child.
He alleges that Caplin, a former defence minister, was at Hove station believing he was going to meet up with a teenager.
Caplin strongly denies he was there to meet a child – and during the exchange, he repeats: “I haven’t done anything”.
The confrontation with Caplin was live-streamed on Facebook, lasting 30 minutes and attracting more than 36,000 views and 3,000 comments.
Mark, one of Stop Sting’s leaders says to the man on the video: “Who you here to meet Ivor?”
Caplin replies: “He’s a … I haven’t met him.”
Mark says: “Don’t start your slippery MP… slippery MP slope with me.”
Caplin replies: “I don’t want to meet anybody.”
Further footage of his arrest was similarly shared on other online platforms.