SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man who allegedly fled Bonner County to avoid prosecution on child molestation charges returned to Idaho after being confronted with similar charges in North Dakota.

Shardan Cody Patterson is charged with engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct with a 3-year-old child in Bonner County in 2010 and possession of meth.

Patterson, 26, was arrested Thursday and made an initial court appearance Friday via video link from the Bonner County Jail. Judge Barbara Buchanan sustained Patterson’s $50,000 bail and appointed a public defender to represent him.

Buchanan also entered orders forbidding Patterson from contacting the alleged victim in the case or children under the age of 16. She further ordered Patterson to undergo drug testing if he posts bail.

Sheriff’s detectives began investigating Patterson in 2010, but the child was too young to testify in court, according to unsealed probable cause hearing testimony. Patterson denied having any sexual contact with the child, but allegedly made incriminating statements during the initial investigation, according to court records.

Patterson allegedly fled to North Dakota and sheriff’s detectives here were advised earlier this year by health and welfare officials in that state that Patterson was accused of molesting a young girl.

It could not be immediately determined Friday if formal charges are pending against Patterson in Grand Forks, N.D.

Sheriff’s detectives were granted a warrant to search Patterson’s Sandpoint apartment in a hunt for removable computer memory cards which might contain photographic evidence.

It was unclear if any memory cards were discovered, although detectives found intravenous drug paraphernalia and trace amounts for what tested positive in the field for meth.