A Perth handyman has been charged with child sex offences dating back more than 15 years.

Child abuse squad detectives will allege that in 2004 the 44-year-old man sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.

He was employed as a local handyman and gardener in the Carlisle and Kewdale areas at the time.

He has been charged with sexual penetration of a child over 13 years and under 16 years and indecent dealings with a child over 13 years and under 16 years and will appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court today