British police arrested a man on Wednesday in connection with a honey-trap sexual messaging scandal that targeted male members of the British Parliament earlier this year.
A Metropolitan police spokesman said in a statement that the man was arrested at an address in Islington, north London, on “suspicion of harassment and breaching online safety laws”.
British media reported that the suspect is in his mid-20s and a member of the main opposition Labour party, which is widely expected to win next week’s general election.
A police spokesman said he remained in custody.
The Metropolitan police launched an investigation in April following a complaint from an MP who was one of 12 men to have received unwanted messages from unidentified scammers.
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The scammers allegedly used fake names such as “Charlie” and “Abi” and sent seductive text messages coercing men into sending them explicit photos of themselves.
In each case, the scammer claimed to have met their target at a political event, then became upset that they couldn’t remember, and claimed the two had engaged in an affair.
This was often followed by sending explicit photographs to the target.
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Then-Conservative MP William Wragg resigned from the party after admitting responsibility for leaking the phone numbers of the men who were targeted.
Wragg, 36, told The Times that he had sent intimate photos to a user of a gay dating app, but had caved in to the user’s demands.
According to news website Politico, which first reported the scandal, the men targeted included three members of parliament, including a government official, two political journalists, a TV presenter and a political party official.
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The Guardian identified a former government adviser as the 13th person.
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