Arrest over 30-year old Sydney sex attack

Re-examining frozen evidence has led to an arrest over a sexual assault in an abandoned building in Sydney almost 30 years ago.

On a Saturday afternoon in February 1986, a stranger sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman in Surry Hills.

When police weren't able to establish a primary suspect, forensic evidence from the scene was frozen.

In 2008, police re-examined the frozen evidence and the case was referred to the State Crime Command.

Police say detectives looked at the original case files again and made a number of new inquiries in a bid to track down the offender.

Almost three decades after the sexual assault, a 61-year-old man fronted Parramatta Police station on Tuesday and was arrested.

He was charged with sexual assault without consent.

He was granted bail to appear in court on June 26.