AUBURN – Police early Wednesday arrested a 42-year-old Lewiston man on a gross sexual assault charge after investigating a report that a male teenager had been sexually assaulted in a bathroom at the Auburn Mall.

Rodney Rackliffe of 65 Horton St. was being held at the Androscoggin County Jail on $10,000 cash bail after his arrest.

The report of the attack came in at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Within minutes, several police officers were at the mall searching for a man said to have fled the bathroom where the alleged attack occurred.

Detectives interviewed the alleged victim, 17, and processed evidence around the men’s room in a hall that leads to an exit near the back of the mall.

The mall remained opened Tuesday night while the investigation was ongoing.

Deputy Chief Jason Moen of the Auburn Police Department said further information about the incident would be released as the investigation continued.