A girl was sexually assaulted in the 1980s. More than 40 years later, police say they have arrested the man responsible

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — An 81-year-old Fredericksburg man has been arrested for sexual assaults he allegedly committed against a girl in the early 1980s. 

On Thursday, detectives from the Child Abuse Unit at the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) arrested and charged Edward Shelton with two counts of indecent liberties they say occurred more than 40 years ago in Great Falls. Per Virginia law, indecent liberties charges apply to any adult "with lustful intent, who, willfully and intentionally performs acts with any minor of 15 years and below."

Officers from the McLean District Station began the investigation into this case on June 7, after a victim reported that she was sexually assaulted multiple times by a man between 1980 and 1983 at a horse farm in Great Falls. FCPD has not released any specific details regarding the victim or her exact age at the time of the crime.

Shelton, who worked as a horse farrier on various farms throughout northern Virginia and Stafford during that time, was identified as a suspect during the investigation and detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest. He turned himself in to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 19. 

Shelton is currently being held without bond and awaiting transport to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.