On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Steven Patras, 65, Hainesport, NJ, began a conversation on a social media app with what he believed to be a 13-year-old female.  The chat conversations went quickly in a sexual/romantic direction, asking her things like her prior sexual experiences, bra size, and if she had pubic hair.  He then described in graphic detail various sexual acts that he wanted to perform on the child when they met in person.  The conversations continued through June, at which point he sent the 13-year-old explicit photographs of himself and also asked her to send him explicit pictures of herself nude.  He told her that he was buying lingerie for her and asked for her measurements/size. 

Steven Patras told the juvenile that he was going to drive to her home in Bensalem on June 12, 2025, for a sexual encounter with her.  Steven Patras had to cancel that meeting, and no new meeting date was set.  No child was in danger during this investigation.

Before Steven Patras could meet the juvenile in Bensalem, he was apprehended on June 30, 2025, by investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey for similar offenses.  During his arrest, his cellular device was seized, and the 2 months of messages with the Bensalem child were discovered on that device.  Steven Patras was sent to prison in New Jersey, and shortly after, Bensalem Police obtained an arrest warrant and lodged it as a detainer, which held him in jail until his extradition to Pennsylvania could be arranged.

On July 22, 2025, deputies from the Bucks County Sheriff's Department transported Steven Patras to the Bensalem Township Police Department.  Steven Patras was charged with Attempted Sexual Abuse of Children, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, and related offenses.  He was arraigned by District Justice Michael Gallagher and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $2,000,000 bail.