A FEMALE teenage nursery worker has been charged with assaulting a child and handling indecent images of children.

Sophie Elms, 18, is charged with four counts of assaulting a child.

She is also charged with six counts of distributing an indecent image of a child and nine counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Elms was on placement at the unnamed nursery in Swindon, Wiltshire.

She was bailed on the condition she has no unsupervised contact with children under 16 in a private place.

She is due to appear before magistrates in the town, where she lives, on September 26.

Police confirmed that none of the alleged offences are said to have happened at a childcare facility.

A Wiltshire police spokesperson said: "Sophie Elms, 18, from the Swindon area, has been charged with four counts of assaulting a child, six counts of distributing an indecent image of a child and nine counts of possessing indecent images of children.

"As proceedings are active in this case we urge people not to speculate."