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MCKEES ROCKS (KDKA) — A man who was in prison for nearly 30 years on a rape conviction is now accused of molesting a child on the day he was released.

May 23 of this year was a good day for John Kunco. It was the day he was released from prison for a rape he says he did not commit.

He spent 27 years in prison.

All those years, Kunco had said, “I am an innocent man and if it takes 100 years, I will prove I am innocent.”

He was convicted of raping a woman in New Kensington inside her apartment in 1990. Kunco was the maintenance man in the building. A judge granted him a new trial based on DNA that had been used to convict him.

During the trial, prosecutors showed jurors photos of a healed bite mark on the victim that experts said matched a dental imprint from Kunco’s mouth.

Most of the evidence against him has since been either discredited or lost.

There was supposed to be a second trial in the rape case but before that could happen, police say the same day Kunco was released from prison, he allegedly molested a 6-year-old little girl in an apartment on Chartiers Avenue in McKees Rocks.

The child told police she was sleeping in the middle room on a futon with Kunco lying next to her and when she woke up, Kunco was assaulting her.

The 53-year-old faces numerous charges including assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested by Allegheny County Police after they interviewed the girl.

For several years, Kunco wrote to the Innocence Project for their help. The same attorney who worked to get him out of prison represents him now in this case.

“Mr. Kunco denies these allegations and has and will continue to fully cooperate with the police. These allegations have absolutely no relation to Mr. Kunco’s 1991 conviction,” the attorney says.

Kunco was released Friday after posting $25,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing on Aug. 28.