AN MoD scientist at top secret military laboratory Porton Down has been charged by police over allegations he tried to meet a child for sex.
Alexander Aplin, 52, was this week charged with three offences, after being caught allegedly trying to meet a 14-year-old girl outside a shopping centre last year while carrying a bag of cheap lace thongs.
But he had been duped by a group of paedophile hunters who confronted him on film before calling police.
Sources said Aplin, of Amesbury, Wilts, had been suspended from his job of over 30 years as a MoD scientist and is set to appear before magistrates in August.
He is believed to be a physics boffin who specialises in lasers.
Before his arrest he allegedly shared thousands of messages with the stooge over three months. The group who snared him claimed the chat-log ran to 200 pages.
Aplin was nabbed last October after allegedly planning to meet the girl and take her to a day trip to Stonehenge.
During the video later posted online by a group called Justice For the Innocent, he claimed the girl was 18.
Defending himself to the group, he said: “People say all sorts of things online, and you’re making out she doesn’t exist.”
Police confirmed he will go to court accused of attempting to cause a girl aged 13 or over to engage in “penetrative sexual activity.”
He is also accused of attempting to meet a girl under 16 years of age following grooming and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
Porton Down, in Salisbury, is the headquarters for the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the MoD’s military research centre.
The MoD’s top scientists work at the heavily guarded base – where it was proved nerve agent Novichok was used by Russian spies in a botched hit on former spook Sergei Skripal.
Scientists there have developed life-saving kit that has saved the lives of troops in combat.
The lab has also attracted controversy in the past after developing nerve agent weapons and conducting human and animal testing.
An MOD spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a Defence Science and Technology Laboratory employee has been charged with a number of sexual offences and is due to appear at Salisbury Magistrates Court. Any further enquiries should be directed towards Wiltshire Police.”
