A New Jersey man earned a special distinction from authorities in Bensalem Township and Burlington County, New Jersey, as he was arrested in each jurisdiction for child sex related offenses.
On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Steven Patras, 65, Hainesport, NJ, began a conversation on a social media app with whom he believed to be a 13-year-old female. The chat conversations moved 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 the various sexual acts he wanted to perform on the child when they met in person. The conversation 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 he was buying lingerie for her and asked for her measurements/sizes, according to Bensalem Police.
Patras told the minor, he was going to drive to her home in Bensalem on June 12, 2025, so they could have sex. He had to cancel that meeting, and no new meeting was rescheduled, said police in court records.
“No child was in danger during this investigation” Bensalem Police said,
Before Patras could meet the child in Bensalem, he was apprehended on June 30, 2025, by investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey.
During his arrest, his cellular device was seized, and two months of messages with the Bensalem child were discovered on that device. Patras was sent to prison in New Jersey. Shortly after, Bensalem Police obtained an arrest warrant and lodged it as a detainer. This held him in jail until his extradition to Pennsylvania could be arranged, said authorities.
On July 22, 2025, deputies from the Bucks County Sheriff’s Department transported Patras to the Bensalem Township Police Department. He 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 Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $2 million bail. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on August 13, and has no attorney of record as of publication time, said Bucks County authorities.
In New Jersey, Patras was charged with multiple counts of child endangerment, enticing, and knowingly distributing obscene material to a child, according to online court records. He is scheduled for a pre-indictment conference in Burlington County on Aug. 20.
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