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Los Osos man avoids prison time for rape of disabled teen

May 14, 2015
Steve James Linzmeier

Steve James Linzmeier

A Los Osos man has taken a plea deal that will allow him to spend just one year in jail for sexually penetrating a developmentally disabled 16-year-old girl. [Tribune]

Steve Linzmeier, 57, pleaded no contest Tuesday to child molestation, sexual intercourse with a person under 18 and sexual penetration with a victim under 18. He initially faced three counts of rape, as well as charges of sexual battery and sexual penetration with a foreign object by force.

Linzmeier will serve five years of felony probation, in addition to the year in jail. He must also register as a sex offender.

On March 27, the 16-year-old spent the night at the house of a friend, who is Linzmeier’s son. When others went to bed, the teen retired on the couch in the living room, and Linzmeier kept watching television on another sofa in the room.

In an interview with a detective, the victim said Linzmeier, wearing only boxer shorts, forced himself on top of her about 15 minutes after everyone went to sleep. Then he sexually assaulted her for about 20 minutes, she said.

Linzmeier told detectives that he had previously gone skinny-dipping with the girl and hugged her in a hot tub on multiple occasions. When deputies arrived at his home, he told them that he was a child molester.

But, the Los Osos man told detectives he never completed sexual intercourse. He said he rolled around on the couch with the girl and admitted to several other graphic and illegal acts, according to a sheriff’s report.

Linzmeier changed his plea prior to a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday. He is due for formal sentencing on June 9.


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if all you people ripping the DA actually knew WHY the plea was made you wouldn’t be foaming at the mouth like you are. I don’t know the specifics in this particular case, but, I would bet a mint that the victim’s best interests are in play here. You self-righteous spouters probably don’t have ANY first hand experience with victims of sexual crime. I do. And for a 16 year old developmentally handicapped child to testify in court would do far more harm to her than it would be worth. She was probably scared to death at the prospect! You guys saying the DA is soft on sex crime are absolutely ignorant.


RichinMB, your guy got his butt kicked by a much better man. Get over it and quit being such a sore loser.


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Perspicacious. I do in fact have first hand knowledge regarding victims of sexual crime. The victims are entitled to and should get the best and most competent psychological support and counseling available. The DA’s office in conjunction with victim/witness support programs should be supporting the victim and see gets they help and support needed to NOT BE SCARED TO DEATH of the perpetrator and become EMPOWERED with the knowledge that she /he was a victim but HAS THE POWER to see her perpetrator receive the punishment he deserves. This helps the victim move forward in life no longer feeling like they are helpless and powerless. Minors no longer have to face their perpetrator in court. They are allowed to testify on video. I have no knowledge of this particular case or the level of this girls developmental disability, and yes the DA’s office may have wanted to spare her having to testify but were they willing to pay for top notch psychologists, psychiatrists, to help her through this process and testify on her behalf? Many parents are unwilling to put their children through the process of going to trial but I have seen first hand perpetrators get a slap on the wrist plea bargain sentence and parents move away with their child to get a “get a fresh start” or “let’s just put this behind us attitude. The child feels their whole world has been torn away and takes the blame on themselves. These children ultimately have suffered years of personal torment and have not healed from the trauma inflicted on them. In contrast the child I know who faced her molester, had ongoing counseling and even wrote a letter to the court stating how long she thought her perpetrator should stay in prison which was read at his sentencing hearing, then saw him sentenced to that time (16 years), is now a thriving teenager who is self assured, confident and knows she has the power to see justice done.


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I appreciate your sentiments, but in this instance, without knowing the facts of the case, I think you and the others are dead wrong in your criticism of Dow. You have no idea what circumstances led them to this plea. Just saying…


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This is the typical story of the DA’s office. I have said it before and will say it again. They will plea bargain all except the most obvious and heinous crimes such as murder. One year in county jail for sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled minor. This is shameful! Shades of citizen of the year from south county Lenny Jones. In one year this man will be out there, maybe your neighbor , and mark my words, he will molest again! In other cases, the DA’s office will file felony charges against someone who is innocent knowing they don’t have enough evidence to go to trial and coerce them into plea bargaining to a misdemeanor because they know they cannot win in trial. People who cannot afford a competent defense attorney will be coerced by their public defender into taking the plea deal knowing that their clients are innocent.” If you go to trial and lose you will spend 3 years in state prison. If you take the plea deal for the misdemeanor you can do 40 hours community service or pay a $200.00 fine” The DA’s office is all about their bragging rights to a 98% conviction rate. (Plea bargains are considered convictions). And of course public defenders consider themselves underpaid and overworked and do not want to go to trial. As always it is all about MONEY and POLITICS. There is NO JUSTICE in our judicial system.


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Oh…and will the Tribune even talk about this story……?

Protect those in power….the Tribs Motto


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The Tribune has run a few stories (actually the same story a few times) with more information then the public needs to know, much of it being not correct to make the story more interesting.


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Blame yourselves, people, for continually voting in leftwing Democrats, soft on crime and soft in the head, but eager for your tax money.


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And who is the leftwing democrat you are referring to?


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One year? Why bother putting anyone in jail at all? The story isn’t even about the victim or rapist any more. The story is, who is the idiot continually making plea deals for these despicable perverts? The DA is clearly a champion for sex offenders . The message being put forth by the DA office is, if you are a rapist / molester, San Luis county is the place to live. The story needs to be the plea bargain record of the DA. The only ones being punished are the victims, twice.


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If you are going to commit a crime, California is the best

place to do it.


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What a WORTHLESS POS , give me a few min with this PERV , unbelievable only a year for an unspeakable crime, you will get yours in jail you worthless man , no your not worthy of the title.


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This man will be out on the street in no time. That’s not right


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Why go to law school if you’re just going to lay down? She’s disabled, and a child… throw the book at him! Including time in prison, why not medical castration when he eventually comes out?


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I agree about throwing the book at him. However, most pedophiles are driven by a mental condition not by their gonads so I don’t think medical castration would do much. We just need to keep such people in prison until/unless a reliable cure for their condition is found — life sentence.


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Cure the mental condition with mandatory death penalty for sexually abusing the developmentally disabled.


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