A former city prosecutor turned religious school teacher has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl, according to a report by The Post.
Daniel Haines, 39, a former assistant district attorney in the Bronx and Brooklyn who taught at Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary in East Harlem, is accused of raping the girl, taking cell phone videos of their sexual contact, and exchanging explicit photos and videos via email with her, as per a criminal complaint filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The abuse allegedly occurred multiple times between April 18, 2022, and April 7, 2023, while the victim was in 7th and 8th grade, the complaint states.
He was taken into custody on May 17.
The complaint suggests that the abuse occurred at Mt. Carmel, where Haines was teaching at the time.
According to the complaint, one instance of forcible rape took place against a desk.
Principal Trista Rivera of Mt. Carmel sent an email to parents, providing a contact number for the Manhattan DA’s child abuse bureau for any concerns related to their children’s interaction with Haines.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, stated, “The school is fully cooperating with the investigation into this allegation.”
Rivera and Zwilling did not clarify why Haines departed from Mt. Carmel or confirm if the victim was a student at the school, leading to some confusion among parents.
Haines served in the Bronx DA’s office from 2009 to 2019, where he handled major gang and drug cases in the rackets bureau.
He later briefly worked at the Brooklyn DA’s office, with no explanation provided for his departure. His last city salary was $105,000.
Afterward, Haines joined Mt. Carmel, where the average teacher’s salary is $54,768, until the end of the 2022-23 school year.
One parent at Mt. Carmel mentioned complaining about Haines, who was their child’s English teacher in 6th and 7th grade.
From September 2023, Haines started working at the Heschel School, a Jewish day academy on the Upper West Side, teaching middle grades, and coaching basketball and mock trial.
In a recent communication to parents, head of school Ariela Dubler and board president Ben Archibald stated that all alleged misconduct occurred before Haines joined Heschel, with no known allegations of criminal behavior within the Heschel community.
Haines underwent reference and criminal background checks before being hired at Heschel. Upon learning of his arrest, the school placed him on leave and revoked his access to their systems and buildings.
Haines pleaded not guilty and was released on $350,000 cash bail. His Legal Aid attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
