HOUSTON (KIAH) — A north Texas superintendent who has been accused of planning to come to Houston to meet an underage girl for sex has been suspended by the school board.
The Itasca ISD board has suspended superintendent Michael Stevens after he was arrested last week at Itasca High School by authorities in Harris County on charges of solicitation of a minor. According to court documents, Stevens allegedly contacted an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl on an undisclosed app, and sent her inappropriate messages and photos, including the intent to drive to Houston to meet the girl for sex, authorities said.
One of the alleged statements on the app stated that he would consider divorcing his wife to marry the girl’s mother just to get closer to the girl, prosecutors said.
“The Board of Trustees met today to take immediate action to suspend Superintendent Michael Stevens from his role as Superintendent of Schools. The Board took this action in response to the arrest on Thursday, June 1st of Mr. Stevens. We are working diligently to resolve this situation in accordance with our legal counsel,” the Itasca ISD statement said.
Itasca ISD is in Hill County, 25 miles south from Fort Worth.
The district named Keith Boles as its interim superintendent.
Stevens remains in custody in Harris County while a judge set his bond at $100,000.
According to the district’s website, Stevens was named IISD superintendent in March of 2022. He was a teacher and coach at Mesquite ISD, Palacios ISD and Vernon ISD. He was also an assistant principal and a secondary principal at Electra ISD.