DNA leads Qld police to 2007 rape accused

A decade-old sexual assault investigation on the Gold Coast has been closed after DNA linked a 51-year-old man to the alleged attack.

Police charged the man on Tuesday with the December 2007 assault on a 16-year-old Brazilian student at Mermaid Beach after a DNA match was discovered in 2016.

They claim the man threatened the teenager at gunpoint in a car, demanding a sex act before thrusting the boy's head into his groin.

Police say the incident happened shortly after the boy accepted a lift from the man, driving him to a nearby car park, locking the doors and pulling out a gun before the assault.

The man allegedly then drove the car to a public toilet where he is accused of a further sexual assault.

The boy is then believed to have escaped from the toilet before fleeing to a nearby service station and calling his mother.

The man has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, rape, going armed so as to cause fear and deprivation of liberty.

He didn't appear during a mention of his matter at Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday but a bail application was granted without objection.

The matter has been adjourned until June 1.