Convicted child killer back behind bars after he was caught sending ‘graphic’ texts and photos to teenage boy, 14, by undercover cops

A child killer and sex predator is back behind bars almost 50 years ago after he murdered a boy and indecently attacked another within 24 hours in 1978.

Stephen Barry Bush, 65, has been jailed until at least 2027 for his “depraved” and “persistent attraction to underage boys and desire to act on that attraction.”

Bush was caught trying to secure a 14-year-old boy for sex on the gay dating app Grindr. Daily telegram reported.

In July 2023, Bush had a weeklong “disturbing” sexually explicit conversation with a boy named “Benny,” who was in reality a Child Exploitation Unit detective.

After sending 20 explicit photos to “Benny” and telling him what sex acts he wanted to perform, Bush, who said he was 40, agreed to meet the child and “give it a try.”

But instead, on July 6, 2023, he was arrested on a street in Wallsend, a western suburb of Newcastle, by detectives behind the online sting.

Bush did not initiate sexual conversations himself, the Newcastle court heard on Friday, but he had told ‘Benny’ he was old enough to make his own decisions.

Among those in the courtroom were relatives of Darren Fisher, the 13-year-old boy Bush lured from a Kurri Kurri church hall before killing him in 1978.

Bush (left) was arrested in a street in Newcastle’s western suburb of Wallsend in July 2023

“Any punishment would never be enough, but I’m glad I was still there to see him go back in,” said Darren’s mother, Nola.

Darren was murdered the day after Bush indecently assaulted a ten-year-old boy. He spent 16 years behind bars and was released in the 1990s.

Judge Peter McGrath noted that Bush had “a long-standing attraction to underage boys” and sentenced him on Friday for using a transport service to entice a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual acts.

The 65-year-old’s actions with ‘Benny’ showed his “persistent attraction to underage boys and a desire to act on it”, Judge McGrath told the court.

Darren Fisher, 13, was lured from a church by Bush and murdered on April 20, 1978

Bush’s excuse for having the sexually explicit conversations with “Benny” despite knowing he was fourteen was because he was bored with his disability pension.

Judge McGrath allowed a 25 percent discount on Bush’s early guilty plea.

Bush, who is deaf, was sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison on the acquisition charge, with a parole period of three and a half years.

Because he has already served his sentence, he will be eligible for early release from January 5, 2027.