Ex-NYC prosecutor teaching at Catholic school charged with raping 13-year-old girl

A former city prosecutor turned religious school teacher has been charged with raping a 13 year-old girl, The Post has learned.

Daniel Haines, 39, an ex-Bronx and Brooklyn assistant district attorney who taught at Mt. Carmel-Holy Rosary in East Harlem, is also accused of taking cell phone videos of their sexual contact, and exchanging “multiple photos and videos of a sexual nature” via email with her, according to a criminal complaint filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The alleged abuse took place “on multiple occasions” between April 18, 2022 and April 7, 2023, when the victim was in 7th and 8th grade, the complaint states.

5

5

He was arrested on May 17.

A partially redacted address cited in the complaint indicates the abuse occurred at Mt. Carmel, where Haines was a teacher at the time. 

The complaint alleges one act of forcible rape occurred against a desk.

Mt. Carmel principal Trista Rivera sent an email to parents saying they can call the Manhattan DA’s child abuse bureau at 212-335-4300 if their children “had any type of contact” with Haines. 

“The school has been and will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation into this allegation,” Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, told The Post.

Rivera and Zwilling did not explain why Haines left Mt. Carmel, or confirm that the 13-year-old victim was a student at the school, causing some confusion and worry among parents.

Haines worked in the Bronx DA’s office from 2009 to 2019, a spokesman said. 

He prosecuted drug cases in the rackets bureau.

5

He then briefly worked at the Brooklyn DA’s office. Spokesman Oren Yaniv refused to say why he left. His last city salary was $105,000.

After that, Haines took a job at Mt. Carmel, where the average teacher’s salary is $54,768.

He stayed until the end of the 2022-23 school year. 

One Mt. Carmel parent told The Post that she complained about Haines, her child’s 6th and 7th grade English teacher.

5

“I thought he was terrible but the principal either ignored me or told me he cares about the kids,” she said. “Then he left the school, but he would always pop up. It’s just weird.” 

Starting in September of 2023, Haines joined the Heschel School, a Jewish day academy on the Upper West Side, where he taught middle grades, and coached basketball and mock trial.

In a recent letter to parents, head of school Ariela Dubler and board president Ben Archibald said, “All of the alleged misconduct occurred prior to Daniel’s arrival at Heschel. We have no knowledge of any allegations of criminal or inappropriate conduct within the Heschel community.” 

5

Haines was hired after reference and criminal background checks, the letter says. When the school learned of his arrest, “We placed him on leave and terminated his access to our systems and buildings.”

Haines pleaded not guilty and was released on $350,000 cash bail, records show.

His Legal Aid attorney did return a call for comment.