[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 04/01/20]
LEESBURG, Florida — A Leesburg man is facing a molestation charge after touching the buttocks of a 15-year-old boy at a local grocery store.
According to an arrest affidavit, a boy was standing outside Publix, 717 North 14th Street, Leesburg Sunday when Steven Rodney Sikkema, 36, approached him, touched his buttocks and called him a derogatory name; and Sikkema then left the area on foot. The incident was caught on video surveillance, according to the affidavit.
On Monday, Sikkema returned to the store and a manager called Leesburg Police to have him trespassed; police located Sikkema in a nearby plaza and trespassed him. Later on Monday, the victim and his mother called Leesburg Police back to the store to file a report on the inappropriate touching.
Police located Sikkema Monday night and he was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation on a child between 12 and 15 years old. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on $1,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
