Teacher jailed after sexually inappropriate messages to 14-year-old student
Chris Higgins jailed for 10 months following sexually explicit communication
A piano and theatre teacher has been sentenced to 10 months behind bars after sending sexually explicit messages to a 14-year-old student.
Chris Higgins, of Sanderling Drive, Poulton-le-Fylde, was arrested last September after the victim’s parents discovered inappropriate messages on their daughter's phone.
The court heard that Higgins engaged in sexual communication with his student and discussed plans to take her to a hotel in London.
Higgins pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at Lancaster Magistrates Court and was sentenced yesterday (29th January).
The offence came to light on 4th September 2024, when the victim’s father noticed a message from Higgins pop up on his daughter's phone while it was left on the sofa.
Messages from the piano and theatre teacher, who had been listed as ‘Chris’ on the phone, included references to deleted messages and "pushing her too far the night before," according to the court.
The victim’s father recorded the messages and, after the victim’s mother spoke to her daughter, they contacted police the next day.
Higgins was arrested shortly after, and explicit messages were recovered from his seized mobile phone.
Higgins was sentenced to 10 months in immediate custody and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The victim spoke of how the offence had impacted her life in her impact statement to the court.
“I didn’t want to go to school, I thought people would be judging me even though no one knew what happened. I wanted to stay in bed all day," she said.
She explained how her grades fell, her attendance suffered, and she stopped playing piano—a passion of hers since the age of nine.
Her parents also shared the profound impact the offence had on their family, describing their daughter as a "shadow of her former self," and expressing the emotional toll of betrayal by a trusted member of their community.
Detective Constable Stacey Billington, from the Blackpool Child Protection Team, praised the victim’s parents for their quick action that stopped Higgins from committing any further offences.
“Hopefully this case will highlight the importance of being tuned in to who your children are messaging on their phones, or viewing online,” DC Billington said.