He manged to avoid going to prison after a series of messages including asking if the child was a ‘virgin’
A teacher convicted of sexual communication with a child has been banned from the profession after receiving a suspended prison sentence for sending explicit messages to a young girl. The primary school teacher had asked if the girl was a “virgin” and said that he wanted to “join her in bed”.
Daniel Duhig, 29, was a teacher at Godwin Primary School in Dagenham before being arrested on January 8, 2024. He was subsequently found guilty of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child on April 15, 2025.
The 29-year-old was a Year 2 teacher and had only completed one term before he was arrested by the police for inappropriately communicating with a child. He was placed on leave on January 17, 2024, and was dismissed from the school on May 2, 2024.
In a Teaching Regulation Agency report, the panel assessing Mr Duhig’s case were concerned after hearing some of the content of the communications, including: “she must be popular with boys”, asking if she was “a virgin” and that he “thinks she would be good”, and finally that he “wanted to join her in bed”.
The panel noted that the communications took place on an over-18s website and that he had apologised, before adding that he “wanted to ask the school for another chance to continue his career”.
While he admitted to the offence at his court hearing, he initially stated that he was unaware of the child’s age. The panel imposed a prohibition order on the teacher without review, meaning he has been permanently banned from the profession.
On May 19, Duhig was sentenced to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and required to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for seven years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £153 and prosecution costs of £85.
The panel concluded that the “no review” period was needed to maintain public confidence in the profession, and said: “I consider therefore that allowing for no review period is necessary to maintain public confidence and is proportionate and in the public interest.
“This means that Mr Daniel Duhig is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
“Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegation found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Duhig shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”
