Ivor Caplin was targeted in a child sting operation by an activist group posing as a 15-year-old boy
Former Labour MP and Under-secretary for Defense Ivor Caplin has been arrested after being confronted by an activist group of “pedophile hunters” who accused him of trying to court a 15-year-old boy, officials have confirmed.
On Saturday, clips emerged on social media of a man resembling Caplin being confronted by members of the Stop Stings vigilante group at a railway station and later being handcuffed by police.
The group told The Sun that it had arranged a meeting with Caplin there posing as an “underage boy” Dean Rowland, the leader of Stop Stings, claimed that the activists “had done a lot of research before this meeting took place.”“We have been speaking to the individual for months over WhatsApp,” he noted, adding that “all of the evidence has been handed over to the police now and we hope that justice will be done.”
As the activists were pressing Caplin on the alleged inappropriate messages, the ex-MP denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he was not going to meet any children.
Following the controversy, Sussex Police confirmed that “a local 66-year-old man was arrested on Saturday, January 11 and currently remains in custody.”“This is an ongoing and active investigation.”
Ivor Caplin, a self-described “patron LGBT,” served as the MP for Hove from 1997 to 2005 and held the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defense under Tony Blair. He was previously suspended from the Labour Party in June 2024 due to undisclosed “serious” allegations.
In the days leading up to his arrest, Caplin publicly criticized tech billionaire Elon Musk for comments directed at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and MP Jess Phillips. Musk had accused Starmer of failing to prosecute child grooming gangs – mainly consisting of Pakistani men – during his tenure as Director of Public Prosecutions and labeled Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” for rejecting calls for a public inquiry into historic child abuse.
Caplin described Musk’s remarks as “completely and utterly unfound[ed]” and labeled them “unacceptable.”
The tycoon responded to the news of Caplin’s arrest by writing “what a creep” on X.
