THE father of missing shopworker Jenny Nicholl has been sent to crown court to face child pornography charges.

Brian Nicholl did not enter any pleas when he appeared at Northallerton Magistrates' Court yesterday.

He is accused of 16 counts of making indecent photo-graphs of children between May 18 and June 18 last year.

The alleged offences came to light during the police investigation into his daughter's disappearance.

Jenny, 19, has not been seen since leaving the family home in Richmond, North Yorkshire, on June 30 last year.

Detectives launched a murder hunt in November after saying they had found nothing to indicate she was still alive.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of murder last week. One was released without charge and the second was released on bail.

At yesterday's hearing, Mr Nicholl, 49, spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

District judge Martin Walker committed the case to Teesside Crown Court, for a date to be fixed.

He released Mr Nicholl on unconditional bail, but told him he must attend the next hearing.

Magistrates had declined jurisdiction of the case at a hearing last month.

North Yorkshire Police have said Mr Nicholl is not a suspect in the murder inquiry and have stressed that the alleged offences are not directly connected to the investigation into his daughter's disappearance.