That was BEFORE the internet...now Catholics can protect themselves from priests such as this. (And must protect themselves since the bureaucracy won't protect them.)
Why do you feel you need protection? He succumbed to earthly desire, and committed a sin. Are you without sin? I'm not, and I don't know anyone else who is, either.
There is nothing in this story to indicate that this priest poses a threat to anyone. Did he commit a crime in soliciting a prostitute? Yes, but one could argue that of the avenues open to him once he decided to sin, this was the least harmful way for him to proceed.
It was wrong. It is an unfortunate episode. He exhibited poor judgement. But there is nothing here to indicate that he deserves to be viewed in the same light as any of the highly publicized pedophile cases.