Lewd charge dismissed

SANDPOINT — A lewd conduct charge was dismissed against a Moyie Springs man accused of engaging in lewd conduct with a minor.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall moved to dismiss the felony charge after the 8-year-old alleged victim was unable to recall on the witness stand what she told authorities or specifics about the abuse, court records show.

Judge Justin Julian granted the motion, finding that the state had not met its burden of demonstrating that it was more likely than not Jess Robert Logan that engaged in lewd conduct. The case was dismissed without prejudice, which means the state can revive the case at a later date.

Marshall advised the court he intends re-file the charge, according to court documents.

Logan, 36, touched the girl’s genitalia in 2014, when she was 6 years old, a criminal complaint alleges.

The allegations surfaced after Logan was accused of touching a 15-year-old girl during the fireworks display at City Beach on Independence Day, court documents indicate. Investigations by Sandpoint Police, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office and the Child Advocacy Center in Coeur d’Alene didn’t produce any charges involving the teenager, but did uncover the younger girl’s allegations.

Logan, a former Sandpoint resident, declined to be interviewed by sheriff’s investigators, court documents indicate.

A preliminary hearing was conducted in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Oct. 5.

The alleged victim testified that Logan had “done something” to her, but later wavered on the stand and said she was having a hard time remembering the specifics of the abuse, according to court documents.

Logan’s counsel, Deputy Public Defender Jeremi Ossman, moved to dismiss the case. Marshall said could produce further evidence via a forensic interviewer, but the interviewer was unavailable, prompting him to also move for a dismissal.