A Melbourne man charged over alleged rapes dating back four decades will make a bid for freedom after he was arrested on Friday and brought before a court.
Police allege Michael Francis Martin, 69, sexually assaulted an elderly woman by breaking into her home in Melbourne's inner-west in 1981 and 1983.
The alleged victim, Jessie Grace Lauder, was aged in her 80s at the time of the attacks and died in 1993.
Early Friday afternoon, police announced they had arrested a Hoppers Crossing man in Wyndham Vale. Shortly after, police said they had charged him with multiple offences.
He faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday afternoon charged with two counts of attempted aggravated rape, aggravated burglary, aggravated indecent assault, rape, burglary and common assault.
During a brief filing hearing, a lawyer for Mr Martin said he would make an application for bail on Tuesday, and would in the meantime be held in custody.
The lawyer said there were a number of health issues Mr Martin was battling, including a tumour in his neck that required hospital treatment.
Mr Martin was not required to enter a plea to the charges.
Alleged assaults happened two years apart
Police previously said Ms Lauder was 82 years old and lived alone in Mason Street, Newport, in Melbourne's inner-west, when she was attacked the first time.
She had lived at the property for 55 years and was widowed in 1977.
On Tuesday, September 22, 1981, police said Ms Lauder was in bed when a man forced entry through a back door at about 10pm.
He entered the bedroom armed with a knife and then took her to another room and sexually assaulted her.
Police said he then looked through Ms Lauder's purse before leaving the property by climbing over the back fence.
The same man is alleged to have returned almost two years later on July 6, 1983.
This time Ms Lauder was in the lounge room getting ready for bed about 9pm when the man broke into her home through the front door.
Police said he sexually assaulted her again.
During the second incident, the man referred to the earlier offence in 1981 and warned Ms Lauder not to call police.
In both incidents, police said the man concealed his identity with items over his face.
Grandson fronted fresh police appeal
Earlier this month, Ms Lauder's grandson Malcolm made an emotional public appeal for information to solve the case, describing her as an independent woman who lived through two world wars and raised two sons during The Great Depression.
"She was five-foot-nothing, my grandmother, five-foot-nothing, and someone has gone into the sanctuary of her own home, not once but twice — somewhere she should be the most protected that she should ever feel," Mr Lauder said.
In a statement, police described Friday's arrest as "a momentous day" that came after years of investigations.
"If you have experienced sexual violence or abuse, even decades ago, police will listen and we will investigate," Detective Inspector Mark Burnett said.
