Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 65-year-old Anthony Mendola of Amherst has been arraigned before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia on an indictment charging him with one count of Predatory Sexual Assault Against a Child, a Class “A-II” felony, and one count of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child, a Class “B” violent felony.

It is alleged that between 2015 and 2017, the defendant sexually abused a female child.

The defendant, who has been fugitive from justice since July 2018, was located last night inside a house in the City of Buffalo.

If convicted, Mendola faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison. He remains remanded without bail.

DA Flynn commends Deputy James Marshall and his colleagues of the United States Marshal Service’s New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force who worked diligently in locating and arresting the defendant.

DA Flynn also recognizes Detectives Ron Smith and Ed Solak as well as Lt. August Canna of Amherst Police Department for their work in this investigation.

Assistant District Attorney Bethany A. Solek of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau is prosecuting the case.

As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.