WAYNE (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Wayne man accused of sexually assaulting a 6-year-old boy because of "insufficient evidence."

The Franklin County prosecutor's office last month filed a dismissal of the charge against 61-year-old Mark Kimball.

Kimball's attorney tells the Kennebec Journal that the allegation of sexual assault was part of an effort by the boy's mother to extort money from Kimball.

The attorney says the boy's mother attacked Kimball, cutting his hand. When Kimball reported that attack to police, the woman made up the assault.

The boy's mother told police Kimball assaulted the boy in February 2012 in a hotel room in Carrabassett Valley that he shared with the boy and the mother.