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A 38-year-old Melbourne man is facing a felony sex charge after police say he inappropriately touched a child at a home in Brevard County, according to a probable cause affidavit filed this week.

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Logan Garrett Ekonomou was arrested early Sunday by the Melbourne Police Department and charged with one count of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim less than 16 years of age, a violation of Florida Statute 800.04. When the alleged offender is 18 or older and the victim is between 12 and 16, the offense is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and registration as a sex offender.

The charging affidavit states that the alleged conduct took place on June 27 at a Melbourne residence. According to the affidavit, the child asked Ekonomou to braid her hair and sat on the floor in front of him as he sat on the couch. She reported that he began massaging her shoulders and then grabbed her breasts over her clothing in a sexual manner. She said she told him “no” when he asked if it was okay and immediately left the room, going to a bedroom where Ekonomou had earlier sent his three children to bed. The affidavit states he followed her into the room and hovered over her shoulder to see who she was text messaging. The child then went into a bathroom and locked the door to call her mother. The affidavit alleges Ekonomou urged her not to tell anyone because he did not want to go to jail.

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The affidavit states that Ekonomou then woke his three children and left the home before the victim’s mother returned. Police later located him at his mother’s home in Satellite Beach, where he was taken into custody. Investigators wrote that he provided a sworn statement after being read his Miranda rights in which he denied any wrongdoing. According to the affidavit, he said he had been “tickling” his young children when the victim sat down in front of him and asked to be tickled too, and that he stopped because he was uncomfortable doing it. The affidavit also states Ekonomou told the officer it was not the first time he had been accused of being inappropriate with a juvenile, but that he had never been convicted.

The victim’s mother contacted The Space Coast Rocket to dispute any characterization that her daughter had been left in Ekonomou’s care or babysat by him. She said the families had planned a movie night at the home and that she and her friend left together to pick up snacks, leaving her daughter at the house to watch the younger children while they were out. According to the mother, Ekonomou was not supposed to be at the residence. She said he had told the group he was going to a friend’s house but instead returned to the home on his own while she and her friend were still out. “My child was not left with Logan,” she said.

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