Simon Ricardo Barra Yaite charged with sexual assault of teenage girl at Sunshine Plaza

Child protection detectives have made an arrest of a man who is accused of indecently touching a teenage girl at a popular Sunshine Coast shopping centre, with the man facing court.

Police have charged a 20-year-old Mountain Creek man with sexual assault offences following an alleged incident in Maroochydore on Monday.

A Mountain Creek man has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl at Sunshine Plaza.

Police allege the man inappropriately touched a 17-year-old girl, not known to him, at the Horton Pde shopping centre in Maroochydore about 2.30pm on Monday.

The alleged incident was immediately reported to police and officers attended the centre a short time later.

Caloundra Child Protection and Investigation Unit detectives arrested the man nearby and charged him with two counts of sexual assault and one count of common assault.

He has since been identified as Simon Ricardo Barra Yaite.

Barra Yaite appeared in Caboolture Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was formally refused bail. He will return to court next year.

Police were appealing to anyone with further information or who witnessed similar incidents to contact police.