A teacher at a high school in Waterbury has been arrested after investigators found that he allegedly sent a student a number of inappropriate messages in which he called her “baby girl” and asked her for photos.
Philip Hughes, 42, of Southbury was arrested Tuesday on a warrant charging him with harmful communication with a minor, according to Connecticut State Police.
Hughes, a technology education teacher and assistant band director at John F. Kennedy High School, has been on administrative leave since school officials learned of the allegations on Dec. 31, according to Superintendent of Schools Darren Schwartz.
“The safety and well-being of our students are of the utmost priority. We continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement, as appropriate,” Schwartz said. “Due to the ongoing investigation and personnel matter, we cannot provide further comment.”
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the mother of the victim, a 16-year-old girl, filed a complaint with the Waterbury Police Department on New Year’s Eve and told investigators that Hughes had sent her daughter “inappropriate messages.” She said Hughes had asked her about a week earlier if he could reach out to the girl and ask her about her upcoming surgery.
The mother said Hughes later called the girl and sent her a message saying “Call me, baby girl, call me,” the warrant said. He then allegedly sent the girl screenshots of videos that had been posted to her TikTok account, which had since been deleted, according to the warrant affidavit. When the girl asked where Hughes found the videos, he allegedly said he had conducted a simple Google search, police wrote.
The mother told investigators Hughes also allegedly sent the girl text messages in which he referenced “her wearing a red dress and a cat outfit,” according to the warrant affidavit. She said the girl became afraid and deleted all of her messages and phone calls with Hughes, the warrant affidavit said.
State police took over the investigation nearly a month after the allegations were reported. A detective with the agency’s Western District Major Crime Squad gathered all the evidence Waterbury police had collected, which included a forensic examination investigators had conducted on the girl’s cell phone with the mother’s consent.
Authorities were able to retrieve messages Hughes had sent the girl but they were not able to recover the outgoing messages the teen had sent, the warrant affidavit said. In a series of messages sent on Dec. 27 in the early morning hours, Hughes allegedly referred to the teen as “baby girl” multiple times and referenced tucking her in and kissing her forehead, according to the warrant affidavit.
“”K. So, Next fit?” he allegedly wrote in one message, according to the warrant affidavit.
“On clothes?” he allegedly asked in another message, the warrant affidavit said. “Feel free to share images as such.”
“That the haul? No outfits?” Hughes also allegedly asked the girl, according to the warrant affidavit.
According to the warrant affidavit, Hughes also allegedly asked if the teen would trust him “with those other profiles?”
“Any other photos from your vaca?” he allegedly asked in another message, the warrant affidavit said.
“Hey Kiddo, sleep well. Hope to hear from you soon, baby girl,” Hughes allegedly said in a message sent just after 4 a.m., according to the warrant affidavit.
Hughes also allegedly made references to giving the girl a hug and tucking her in, according to the warrant affidavit. He allegedly called the girl twice between 4:54 a.m. and 5:19 a.m. and sent a text message days later saying he realized he had “pocket dialed” her, the warrant affidavit said.
The mother told police Hughes reached out to her on Jan. 12 and informed her he had gotten a new cell phone number, according to the warrant affidavit.
Eight days later, the teen gave police a statement and said Hughes had initially contacted her over the winter break to wish her a Merry Christmas, according to the warrant affidavit. She said he then allegedly began asking if he was more than a teacher to her, insisting that she was more than a student to him, the warrant affidavit said.
The girl said Hughes also allegedly pressed her about not trusting him and would refer to her as “baby girl,” according to the warrant affidavit. She said she became “more disturbed” when he found screenshots of deleted videos from her TikTok account, saying she could not understand why someone would “knowingly look for photographs of her on the Internet, let alone an adult who was in direct supervision of her” at school, police wrote.
According to the warrant affidavit, Hughes declined to speak with investigators on Jan. 21 and never returned a voicemail that police left for him a day later.
Hughes is free on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Waterbury Superior Court on March 3.