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Man accused of decades-old sexual assault in Volusia

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An eastern Wisconsin man was arrested in Volusia County where he's accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy 34 years ago.

Authorities said 73-year-old Claude Melanson, of Cedar Grove, is being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail on $100,000 bail.

Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson tells the Daytona Beach News-Journal the age of the victim makes the alleged crime a capital offense, so there is no statute of limitations. The man's accuser is now 43 years old and lives in St. Petersburg. Court records say he reported the alleged crime to Volusia investigators last year. The man said he was assaulted at a residence near Holly Hill.

The Volusia County Jail did not have an attorney listed for Melanson and a message left at his Wisconsin home was not immediately returned.