Parents question drama teacher's role after arrest

The parents of a girl who was groomed by a performing arts teacher have said they "don't understand" how her abuser was able to continue working with children following his arrest.

Chris Higgins was jailed for 10 months in January for sexual communication with a child.

Lancashire Police said Higgins, 46, had intended to take his 14-year-old victim to a hotel.

Photographs show Higgins continued to interact and communicate with children at the Cre8ive Little Theatre in Thornton-Cleveleys, which he ran with his wife while he was on police bail.

The mother of Higgins' victim, who has a legal right to anonymity, told the BBC that his offending had "changed nearly everything about her".

"She's just not the same happy girl that she used to be," added the teenager's father.

Higgins was arrested in September 2024 and released on bail with conditions that limited his access to children.

Lancashire Police said those conditions initially forbade him from "any contact with any child under the age of 18 unless fleeting, inadvertent or approved by Children's Social Care".

The force said the conditions were later altered to prevent contact with "any child under the age of 18, unless it was supervised by a responsible adult who has been assessed by Children's Social Care as competent and able to safeguard".

Photographs seen by the BBC from various points in 2025 while Higgins was on bail show him posing for a picture next to a young girl at a Cre8ive event, being interviewed on stage at a sixth form drama production, and congratulating youth theatre performers in a WhatsApp group chat.

The BBC has been told Higgins did stop one-on-one teaching with children during his time on bail.

"We knew that he was still regularly working at the theatre, involved in shows and involved in lessons because it was on social media," the girl's mother said.

"We were told that we weren't allowed to inform other parents about it and the weight of that worry on us was awful, and we stopped speaking to people because we just couldn't face them.

"We couldn't face knowing that their child was still attending and we couldn't tell them.

"We don't understand the processes which led to the fact that he was still allowed to be in a building with children, to be in group chats with children, and be in communication with children knowing what he'd been arrested for," her father said.

Lancashire Police said Higgins' bail conditions "were deemed proportionate and had the aim of preventing further offences and protecting vulnerable young people".

"We have had no reports of any further offences during the time Higgins was on bail," a force spokesperson added.

Higgins was re-arrested in March 2025 on suspicion of breaching his bail conditions but was released because the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the legal test for charging him with his original offence had not been met.

"There were no continuing substantial grounds to object to bail," a CPS spokesperson said, adding that Higgins' actions were "deplorable".

Higgins' wife and business partner Claire Higgins did not respond to requests for a comment.

Earlier this week, she said: "From the point of arrest, the relevant safeguarding authorities were informed and involved.

"Throughout an extremely complex and evolving period, I acted strictly in line with formal advice and guidance from Lancashire Police, the safeguarding team at Lancashire County Council and building owners Wyre Council.

"I am sorry for the distress this situation has caused for many people, particularly families in the local community, and I regret the anxiety arising from circumstances that were largely outside my control."

There is no suggestion Claire Higgins was aware of her husband's offending at the time.

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