A 26-year-old man arrested in connection with a sexual attack on a teenage sunbather near City Beach was released Monday on his own recognizance.

Mathew T. Gibbon, who told sheriff’s deputies he lives at the Coeur d’Alene men’s shelter, is accused of pinning down a 15-year-old Nevada girl and groping her while she sunbathed Friday morning.

Gibbon faces charges of sexual battery of a minor and felony assault.

The girl told deputies the attack happened about 10 a.m. on a beach near the intersection of Rosenberry Drive and Hubbard Street. Gibbon walked from the street to the water’s edge before approaching the girl from behind, according to a Kootenai County sheriff’s report.

The girl struggled briefly with Gibbon before fighting off her attacker and running down the beach yelling for help, according to the report.

Another man walking on the beach grabbed Gibbon and held him until a Coeur d’Alene police officer arrived. The girl was not injured.

Gibbon admitted to deputies during an interview at the jail that he attacked the girl because he was lonely, the report said.

, DataTimes