Patrick Sookhdeo, 68, of River Street, Pewsey, Wiltshire, is accused of one count of indecent assault on a woman aged 16 or over in Plaistow, east London, in 1977.
The Metropolitan Police said Mr Sookhdeo was arrested following an investigation by Newham detectives.
He was bailed to appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on 4 April.

Some 13,000 people have left the area since Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
The evacuation deal also includes government-held parts of Idlib province besieged by rebels.
The UN envoy for Syria says there are plans for peace talks on 8 February.
Some 7,000 people are still trapped in Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory. Conditions there are grim, with no access to food and shelter and minimal medical facilities.
Among those evacuated on Monday were 47 children trapped in an orphanage, children's charity Unicef said in a statement. Some were in a critical condition because of injuries or dehydration, the organisation added.
The evacuees also included seven-year-old Bana Alabed, whose home in eastern Aleppo was bombed and whose appeals for peace on Twitter were heard worldwide.
In a video she expressed relief at escaping the "endless bombardment in Aleppo".
After leaving Aleppo city, the evacuees will be moved to parts of Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
The operation restarted late on Sunday. It had stalled after armed men set fire to buses that were about to transport the sick and injured from the mainly Shia, government-held villages of Foah and Kefraya in Idlib province.
The Syrian Observatory said that 500 of the 4,000 villagers left the areas on Monday.
A rebel representative said hundreds of people would also be evacuated from Zabadani and Madaya, two army-besieged rebel towns near the border with Lebanon, as part of the deal.
At the UN Security Council, the 15 members managed to overcome disagreements between Western nations and Russia and unanimously approved the resolution.
It requested the "UN and other relevant institutions to carry out adequate, neutral monitoring" of the mass evacuations from Aleppo.
Syria's envoy Bashar Jaafari spoke out against council members who he said had hidden agendas and intended "to legitimise foreign interference, the changing of legitimate governments by force, or even using military force".
For monitors to be deployed in Aleppo, they need permission from the Syrian government.
Meanwhile, a gunman killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey in Ankara. The attacker, identified as a police officer, shouted "Don't forget Aleppo".
Leaders of both countries, who brokered the deal for the evacuations, said the attack was a "provocation" aimed at hurting bilateral ties, and vowed to investigate the killing. It was not clear if the gunman acted alone or had links to any group.

Ruth Munro's mother, Margaret McPartlin, died in September 1993 aged 73.
But a court heard she continued to draw Ms McPartlin's pensions from British Steel Corporation and Diageo.
Munro, 67, from Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, admitted defrauding the schemes of Â£18,577.
Alloa Sheriff Court was told that between 1993 and May 2015 - by which time Ms McPartlin would have been 94 - she pretended to the administrators of both pension schemes that her mother was still alive.
Sheriff Linda Smith deferred sentence for a criminal justice social work report until 10 November and ordered Munro to reappear then.
She said: "I'll continue this for reports to be made available."
It is expected that Munro's solicitor, Jay Goodwillie, will outline mitigating circumstances at the November hearing.
A man has been charged with carrying out a sexual assault on a woman almost 40 years ago.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for UN officials and others to monitor the mass evacuations from rebel-held east Aleppo and the safety of civilians still there.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A woman has admitted pretending her dead mother was still alive for more than 20 years so she could carry on drawing her pension.