BUTLER TWP — A husband and father of two girls who is accused of soliciting a 13-year-old girl for sex was released from jail Thursday and returned with family members to his Lancaster County home.

But Patrick Gehris is scheduled to be back in Butler County in April for his formal arraignment on several felony counts stemming from the child Internet sex sting that ended Feb. 19 outside a Butler Township hotel.

Gehris, 42, of Lancaster on Thursday waived his preliminary hearing on charges of unlawful contact with a minor, criminal solicitation to commit sexual exploitation of children and criminal solicitation to commit sexual abuse of children.

The defendant's arrest culminated a four-month investigation during which Gehris allegedly made contact with an undercover trooper, posing as a 19-year-old woman and conducting online investigations.

Gehris communicated with the trooper by e-mail, in chat rooms and telephone, in hopes of arranging for a sexual liaison with a 13-year-old girl.

However, instead of meeting both the 13-year-old and 19-year-old for sex, Gehris, a financial adviser, was met by troopers.

He had been held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bond his arrest.

The defendant's family — including his wife, his father and father-in-law — were in Butler Township on Thursday to make arrangements for his release from jail.

Gehris' children — 13- and 15-year-old daughters — attended school, according to the defendant's attorney, Michael Kalocay of Pittsburgh.

After waiving his client's hearing, Kalocay asked District Judge Kevin O'Donnell to reduce the defendant's bond by as much as one half. Meeting the $100,000 cash or surety bond "would make (Gehris') entire family destitute."

He noted Gehris had no prior criminal record, had lived in Lancaster all his life, and cooperated with police after his arrest.

Kalocay also claimed Gehris, after pulling into the Butler Township hotel parking lot, decided to call off the pre-arranged tryst before troopers drove up.

"He was leaving the place where the meeting was to be held,"Kalocay said. "He knew this wasn't the right thing to do."

Butler County Assistant District Attorney Jerry Cassady, however, offered his own theory why Gehris tried to pull away from the hotel.

"His conduct was consistent with fear of being caught,"Cassady said. "There was no change of intent in the defendant's mind."

Gehris' father, 81-year-old Joseph Gehris, a one-time Lancaster County Court bailiff, also implored O'Donnell to lower his son's bond.

"I regret this happened,"the elder Gehris said. "It's shocking to me and my wife and our whole family."

He pledged that upon his son's release from jail, he would assure the defendant's appearance at all court dates.

"He won't run away because he'll be with me,"Joseph Gehris told O'Donnell.

Bill Kaufman, the defendant's father-in-law, spoke of the financial strain that the $100,000 bond placed on Gehris' family.

Kaufman described Gehris as a "fantastic father," prompting the defendant to break down in tears.

Cassady argued the bond was "sufficiently set"at $100,000, given the nature of the charges and the threat posed by Gehris to the community.

He also didn't buy claims the defendant lacked the financial means to make bail, and characterized the defendant as a flight risk.

"When (Gehris) was arrested he was 250 miles from home,"Cassady said. "That shows an intent on committing the acts, the determination to commit the acts, and the means and willingness to travel."

Even before O'Donnell ruled to keep the bond as is, Gehris' wife was signing papers with a Liberty Bail Bonds agent to ensure the defendant's release.