The creep in that article was soliciting girls as young as 14 and I believe he was targeting them on social media. Locanto is okay, if they are young, you can always ask to see their I.D. which is something I have occasionally done when meeting sugar babies etc.
Probably a lurker here tbh. Got himself a good lawyer, go to some sex rehab courses, donate some money to sexual harm helpline, he can then probably get a discharge without conviction with name suppression. Such is our justice system.