A former Victorian policeman will face a Sydney court to answer 39 charges of child sex offences including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency.
Victorian Police allege the offences occurred during the 1960s and 1970s.
The 62-year-old man from Ambarvale in southwest Sydney was taken into custody at 1.45pm (AEST) on Wednesday after a 10-month investigation.
He will appear in Campbelltown Local Court in Sydney on Thursday.
It is alleged he committed sex offences against a number of children, some while on duty, in the southern Melbourne metropolitan area and Mornington Peninsula as long as 40 years ago.
He resigned from the police force in 1979.
Southern Metro Acting Inspector Jason Kelly said police took all complaints of sexual assault seriously.
“This has been an extensive investigation that has resulted in the arrest of a man decades after the alleged crimes were committed,” he said in a statement.