A 23-year-old Mo'ili'ili man went to Kahala Mall yesterday morning expecting to rendezvous with a teenage girl he had met on the Internet. Instead, agents from the Hawai'i Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force were there to arrest him.

The man is expected to be the fourth person charged this year with first-degree "electronic enticement of a child," said state deputy attorney general Kristin Izumi-Nitao.

According to a Department of Attorney General news release, the man allegedly engaged in online chats with a Honolulu police detective posing as a 13-year-old girl. The man arranged to pick her up at the mall and take her back to his apartment for sex. The arrest occurred at 9:55 a.m. yesterday when the man showed up at the designated meeting place.

It is the third case this month involving an alleged online child predator in Hawai'i, Izumi-Nitao said.

On May 1, Daryl G. Lee, 54, of Kapolei was arrested at Kewalo Marine Lab after he showed up to allegedly meet a juvenile girl for sex. Lee, who is free on $40,000 bail, was arraigned Monday in Circuit Court.

Also on May 1, Matthew S. Goodman, 28, was arraigned in Maui District Court on two counts accusing him of engaging in online sex chats with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl and then arranging to meet her on Maui. Goodman pleaded not guilty and will be tried in July. His bail is $1 million.

The task force in January arrested Jason Scott Neu, 52, of Honolulu on a complaint from Michigan authorities that he allegedly sent an airline e-ticket to bring what he thought was a 14-year-old boy from Detroit to Honolulu for a sexual encounter. Neu was arrested at Honolulu airport and charged under Michigan law with child sexually abusive behavior.

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.