Dale Millar-Evans, 35, a teacher at Bells Farm Primary School in Birmingham, has been banned from the classroom. This move comes on the heels of a hard breach of professional conduct on his part. Sarah Buxcey took this courageous decision on behalf of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. It was designed around activities that are egregiously detrimental to the public welfare.
Between July and September 2023, Millar-Evans had explicit chats with two persons he thought to be 13-year-old girls. Throughout these exchanges, he asked for pictures from them, leading to serious accusations about his actions. On July 11, 2023, he sent an explicit message to one officer posing as a child. He even initially responded, “Sorry didn’t realize you were underage,” when called out, indicating that he was aware of the age-related implications of what he was doing.
What impressed the panel was that Millar-Evans never stopped engaging the person. This back and forth continued for at least a week after the very first reach out. His talks took place when he was working at Bells Farm Primary School, where he started working in 2022. He subsequently was suspended in September after he was notified that a Fletcher police department investigation was underway regarding his behavior.
The panel started its inquiry in January 2024. Two months later, Millar-Evans was forced to resign from the post. As the hearing went along, it became clear that he had not yet developed any real contrition for what he had done. Millar-Evans explained that his only request for pictures was to establish the identity of who he would be communicating with. Without getting too much into the weeds, he told me he needed to make sure they weren’t “a bot or a 50-year-old man.”
Sarah Buxcey emphasized the gravity of Millar-Evans’ actions, stating, “The regret he expressed related to the personal consequences of exposure of his actions, rather than demonstrating that he understood the impact of online behaviours on children.” This comment is illustrative of the panel’s concerns. Further, they worry about his lack of understanding of the actual damage he can cause by his conduct.
