A second year teacher has been banned from the profession after telling a schoolgirl he ‘wanted to sleep with her’.
Daniel Duhig, 29, from Hornchurch, Essexalso asked the girl if she was a virgin before telling her that he “thinks she would be good” and “needed to be popular with boys.”
The former primary school teacher started messaging the child, who was under 16 and did not attend his school, after meeting on an 18+ dating app.
He was arrested and convicted in January 2024 of attempting to sexually communicate with a child after pleading guilty at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court in May last year. He claimed he did not know the victim was a child.
Duhig, who studied primary education at the University of East Londonworked at Godwin Primary School in Dagenham from September 2023 until his arrest in January 2024.
He sent the girl the sexual messages on December 28, 2023 and was placed on garden leave after his arrest. He was fired in May and later asked the school for “another opportunity to further his career.”
Daniel Duhig, from Hornchurch, Essex, has been banned from teaching for life after telling a teenage girl he wanted to sleep with her – and telling her she needs to ‘be popular with boys’
The teacher was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to take a rehabilitation course and do 100 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay the victim £154 and £85 prosecution costs and was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
Duhig, who previously worked as a Learning Support Assistant for the London borough of Redbridge, was banned from teaching for life at a court.
The education panel ruled that there is a ‘high’ chance that he will commit similar offenses in the future. It was said there was no material evidence that he had shown any insight into the ‘wider impact of the crime on the child’.
Concerns had previously been raised about his behavior due to his failure to maintain professional boundaries with students, and as a result he was placed on a support plan.
Duhig told a disciplinary hearing that he was “genuinely sorry” for messaging the child. He said he “deeply regretted his actions” and “accepted the gravity of his mistake.”
He also claimed that “he would have blocked her immediately” if he had known the girl was underage, and asked the school to give him another chance.
But the education panel found that ‘while there was some evidence of remorse and acceptance of responsibility, there was little evidence before the panel that provided insight into the wider impact of the crime on the child and also on public confidence in the profession or the reputation of teachers’.
The former elementary school teacher was arrested and convicted of attempted sexual communication with a child in January 2024 after pleading guilty
It added: ‘There was no evidence before the panel that Mr Duhig demonstrated exceptionally high standards in his personal and professional conduct or had made a significant contribution to the education sector.
“The panel had no evidence to show that the incident was out of character.”
It added: ‘There was no material evidence of insight, remorse or meaningful consideration of the impact of his offending. The panel concluded, based on the available evidence, that the risk that Mr Duhig will commit similar offenses in the future is high, which is clearly a major concern.”
