A 69-year-old man has been arrested over the historical rape of an elderly woman in her home more than four decades ago.

Jessie Grace Lauder, 82, was raped inside her home on Mason Street in Newport on September 22, 1981 and again on July 6, 1983.

The grandmother had lived at the property for 55 years and was widowed in 1977 and died in 1993.

Police executed a search warrant at a residential address in Hoppers Crossing today.

A 69-year-old Hoppers Crossing man was arrested in nearby Wyndham Vale shortly after.

The first incident occurred on September 22, 1981, when police allege a man forced entry through the rear door of the house about 10pm.

The man entered the bedroom armed with a knife and confronted her.

She was then taken to another room in the house and raped.

The man is then believed to have looked through the grandmother’s purse for money before he left the property and climbed over the back fence into a vacant lot in Oxford Street.

The second incident occurred less than two years later, on July 6, 1983.

Police believe Lauder was in the lounge room getting ready for bed when a man forced entry into the house about 9pm, through the front door.

The man forced the grandmother into the kitchen before taking her back to the lounge room where she was raped again.

Police believe the man referenced the earlier rape and warned her not to call the police. 

Sexual Crime Squad Detective Inspector Mark Burnett released a statement today, expressing pride in the officers who worked tirelessly on the investigation.

He also hoped the arrest would bring some relief to the family, who have been seeking justice for the past four decades.

“Though Jessie is sadly no longer with us, this is a momentous day for her family, and in particular, her grandson, Malcolm, who have fought incredibly long and hard for justice for almost 44 years for their beloved Jessie,” Burnett said.

“By all accounts she was a wonderful and exceptionally stoic woman, and I truly hope today’s arrest brings Jessie’s family a sense of relief and some form of closure at last. Our thoughts are with them today.

“This has been a complex, protracted and at times, difficult, investigation by members of the Sexual Crime Squad – many of whom have moved to different units over the years – and their determination and perseverance is to be commended.”

Lauder died in 1993 without ever seeing justice but police, who’ve offered a reward of $500,000 for information about the crimes, said they had always believed they could be solved.

Lauder’s grandson Malcolm Lauder became emotional last week as he told reporters of the trauma that has plagued the family for decades.

“She’s five foot nothing, my grandma, five foot nothing,” Mr Lauder said.

“And somebody has gone into the sanctuary of her own home where she should be the most protected that she should ever feel.”

The 69-year-old man arrested today will be interviewed by police.