HOUSTON – A North Texas school district suspended a superintendent who is accused of planning on traveling to meet an underage girl for sex.
Itasca ISD said board members met on Monday to “take immediate action” to suspend Michael Stevens as superintendent.
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Stevens, 47, was one of seven men arrested in the “Internet Crimes Against Children” investigation in the Houston area last week, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said.
For the sting operation, Rosen said officers posed as children between 13-15 years old online. Stevens started communicating with an undercover officer disguised as a 15-year-old girl in an undisclosed social media app, Rosen said.
“He sent pictures of his private parts and asked for nude videos and images in return,” Rosen said, adding that some of his images appeared to have been taken in his office.
He planned on traveling to Houston to meet and have sex with the person he thought was a 15-year-old girl, Rosen said.
Steevens was charged with online solicitation of a minor.
The school district’s board of trustees released the following statement on Monday:
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 Board has appointed veteran Superintendent Keith Boles to serve as the Interim Superintendent starting tomorrow, June 6th. Mr. Boles previously served in the district in this capacity and is well known and respected by our community.
Last and more importantly, the Board is confident that based on all facts known to date, there are no connections between the allegations made against Mr. Stevens and students at Itasca ISD. Our students are safe and will continue to thrive and succeed with the dedicated attention and service brought by our outstanding parents and staff.
Stevens also worked as a coach, principal and assistant principal at other districts across the state. He is married but doesn’t have children.
“Stevens has been around children his entire work life,” Rosen said.
KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, reported that he has worked with Itasca ISD since March 2022.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Precinct 1 constable’s office at 713-755-7571.
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