Philly Woman Beater Sentenced to State Prison for at least 16 Years

41-year-old man who assaulted his ex-girlfriend and then repeatedly threatened, stalked, and harassed her, even while he was in Bucks County Correctional Facility, was sentenced Monday to 16 ½ years to 35 years to state prison.

Steven Jeffrey Castner, of Philadelphia, was convicted by a Bucks County jury in June on two counts each of intimidation of a witness and stalking and one count of attempted burglary, criminal trespassing, terroristic threats, and simple assault.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced him to seven to 14 years on the intimidation of witness count; four to 10 years on attempted burglary; 3 ½ years to 7 years on the two stalking counts; one to two years for terroristic threats; and one to two years for simple assault, all running consecutively.

Finley said he handed down the aggravated sentence because of the escalation of Castner’s criminal actions, which he continued even while he was on state parole and in county jail.

In announcing his sentence, Finley said Castner put the victim through a “living hell.”

“She lives in fear that one day you might get out and what you might do.”

Castner burglarized the victim’s home in Sellersville on Oct. 19, 2019, using a hammer to damage the home and the victim’s car. During the encounter, he also struck the victim in the face and threatened her.

Even while he was in jail, Castner continued to intimidate the victim in an attempt to have her recant what happened. An investigation by Bucks County Detectives found that Castner placed 3,675 phone calls to the ex-girlfriend’s phone while he was in county jail.

This case was investigated by Perkasie Borough Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Brittney M. Kern.