Oakdale man convicted of soliciting sex with boys

A 65-year-old man has agreed to a plea deal and will spend a year in Stanislaus County jail for leaving notes in an Oakdale neighborhood seeking sex with boys.

Stephen Louis Busch also will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and attend 52 weeks of courses intended to rehabilitate convicted sex offenders, according to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. The defendant also will have to serve three years of probation in accordance with the plea deal.

On Wednesday, Oakdale resident Busch pleaded no contest to arranging a meeting with the intent of committing lewd acts with a child and going to that meeting place. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped one count of sending harmful material to a minor with the intent to sexually arouse the child. Both charges are felonies.

The defendant was scheduled to be formally sentenced March 4. He remains in custody. Busch has been held at the county jail since his Nov. 25 arrest.

Oakdale police have said a resident reportedly found notes seeking sex with boys on a fence in the alley between Stanislaus and Warrington avenues, starting in September. More than 40 notes were turned over to police investigators.

An investigator posed as a 15-year-old boy and started exchanging notes with Busch in the alley, police said, and a meeting was arranged.

In the final note, police said the defendant wrote his first name, his home address and a detailed description of sex acts he wanted to engage in with the boy.

Using a decoy, police planned a sting operation and set up a meeting. Busch was taken into custody when he arrived at the meeting place. Police said the defendant confirmed he was there to meet a 15-year-old boy.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Oakdale man convicted of soliciting sex with boys."