Sex for Rent: Moment The Argus confront Worthing seller

We saw the advert on the website Craigslist offering free rent to somebody who would become a second partner/girlfriend.

We posed online as a 19-year-old girl under the pseudonym Kathryn Haistings and said we were interested.

It took him just minutes after I made the initial inquiry to send a topless photo of himself - reaffirming the nature of the advert.

READ MORE >> Sex for Rent: The Argus confronts man over Craigslist advert

We arranged to meet the man who was advertising a free spot on his sofa in return for what now had become clear in a revised advert, now stating he wanted a sex partner/girlfriend.

Gary arranged to meet The Argus outside Worthing train station

Craigslist, a site more prominent in America than it is here in the UK, has long been the platform of choice for landlords to advertise free rent in return for sex.

But none of the harrowing stories I had read about before could have prepared me for what I was to meet.

Scheduled to meet at 4 pm in front of Worthing train station, my colleague and I arrived early to scout the location to be sure "Gary" didn't have a plan of his own.

WATCH: Watch as Worthing Sex For Rent seller is confronted

It was this preparation and planning that would prove vital for what was to happen next.

Hood up, Gary's face was recognisable from the explicit selfie he had sent me just days before.

Revealing that I was in fact the woman he had been communicating with for the last week, his head dropped and the "gentle" demeanour he had advertised himself as vanished.

Immediately, he made a lunge for our camera - which thanks to the smart-thinking of colleague Jody Doherty-Cove - was saved by a piece of string he had tied around his wrist in the expectation he'd do just that.

It was after this failed attempt to stop us from confronting that things turned unpleasant.

"Would you prefer it if I grabbed you?" he said after his attempt to stop our filming failed.

He then offered us to "come over and talk" while gesturing to go around the corner.

Thanks to the planning we had done before the sting, I knew that our photographer was parked in front of the station, so I was keen to get him to follow me back to where he could picture his reaction.

"Do you think that is morally right that the government takes away our freedom over a scam?" he added.

"Has that got anything to do with charging a 19-year-old girl no rent in return for sex on a regular basis," I rebutted.

Our reporter confronts the man about the advert posted on Craigslist

Refusing to keep his distance he kept walking towards me.

"Does it say that you are forced or did I say at any point we want you to want this, we don't want to force anybody?" he shouted.

"Tell me that.

"I would say that if she is over 18 that would be her legal choice and her legal right, would it not?

"At the moment, you are the enemy of freedom.

"In your eyes, you think that what, a prostitute is also doing a bad thing because she is selling?

"Is she doing it for free or is she getting something out of it?

"So therefore what does it count as? It counts as a contract."

Realising that the confrontation was drawing a crowd, I was keen to end the conversation and leave the area safely.

The sofa offered as free accommodation

With the confrontation over we left the area, shocked at how his aggressive demeanour was the opposite of the "gentle and respectful" man he advertised himself to be.

However, it was when driving home that I received a threatening message from Gary on our fake Facebook account.

He said: "This doesn't change the fact that next time I see you, may very be your last day on this planet."

Let it be known that any attempt to intimidate me will not stop my reporting or my pursuit to hold those attempting to take advantage of the most vulnerable to account.