FARMINGTON – A Vermont man was ordered to appear at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday to be arrested on a charge of gross sexual assault, sheriff’s Lt. Niles Yeaton said Tuesday.

A Chittenden County, Vt., judge ordered James P. Bezio, 44, of Colchester, Vt., to appear in Maine the day after he posted bail of $5,000 cash or surety for release from the Chittenden Regional Correction Facility.

Colchester police arrested Bezio on Monday on a fugitive from justice charge based on a Franklin County Sheriff’s Department warrant for arrest stemming from a charge of gross sexual assault, Yeaton said.

A woman came forward recently accusing Bezio of an “alleged forcible sexual encounter” in October 2008, Yeaton said.

Sheriff’s Detective David St. Laurent conducted an investigation and got a warrant for Bezio’s arrest on Friday, Yeaton said.

Both St. Laurent and Yeaton traveled to Vermont Monday to interview Bezio at his residence, accompanied by Colchester police.

Bezio appeared in the Vermont court on the fugitive from justice charge and part of his bail conditions was to appear in Franklin County the day after his release, Yeaton said.

Bezio was released from that jail Tuesday, a Chittenden jail representative said.

Yeaton said the Franklin County department had no authority of arrest in another state, or he would have arrested Bezio during his visit.

When Bezio arrives at the sheriff’s office, Yeaton said, he will be arrested and processed on the gross sexual assault charge.