Cold case arrest: 36-year-old man charged with 2014 Jurien Bay sexual assault

Detectives have charged a 36-year-old man with raping a woman in the public toilet of a Jurien Bay hotel almost a decade ago.

The alleged victim was in her 30s at the time, was in the public area of a hotel, and entered the women’s bathroom on the night of Saturday, December 13, 2014, police say.

It will be alleged a man followed her into the bathroom and sexually assaulted her.

A police spokesperson said at the time of the incident a male suspect was identified, but there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

Police revealed the breakthrough in the case on Tuesday morning, after detectives from the special crime division conducted a full review of all aspects of the investigation, using enhanced DNA forensic techniques to analyse items of evidence seized at the time of the incident.

As a result of the review, a man, who was 27 at the time of the alleged incident, was charged with sexual penetration without consent.

The man appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, December 20 and is next due to appear in the same court on Wednesday, February 28.