Montville — A more than two-year investigation by local police has led to the arrest of a Florida man on child sexual assault charges.

Police in a news release Friday said Jason James Gilliam Howard of Inverness, Fla., was charged with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor in Montville after local officers brought him back from the Citrus County Jail in Lecanto, Fla.

Howard was located at his home back in December and taken into custody by the Citrus County Sheriff's Department, police said.

The alleged assault occurred at a Montville hotel in late 2019, according to the arrest warrant affidavit signed by a New London Superior Court judge in July 2020. The victim was a 12-year-old girl.

Howard in March 2020 told police in Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Office that he had shared hotel rooms with the girl but denied assaulting her, the affidavit said.

He was held on a $200,000 bond pending his appearance Friday at Norwich Superior Court. The clerk's office said his case was transferred to New London Superior Court, where serious crimes are heard. He is next scheduled to appear on April 11.