Child Sex Sting Operation Leads to Arrest of Superintendent

A Houston-area child sex sting operation led to the arrest of seven men, including a North Texas superintendent.

47-year-old Itasca superintendent Michael Keith Stevens was identified as one of the men arrested in the operation.

According to reports, Stevens asked for photos from someone he thought was 15 years old.

It turned out to be an undercover officer.

Stevens reportedly also sent explicit pictures and messages.

Harris County Constable Alan Rosen said some of Stevens’s photos appeared to have been taken in his office.

NEW: Michael Keith Stevens, 47, a Texas superintendent, sent lewd photos to an undercover officer posing online as a 15-year-old girl he planned to meet with, authorities said. @NBCNews https://t.co/ymjSHF215P

— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) June 4, 2023

FOX 4 News reports:

At one point, authorities said he suggested he could marry her mother so the two of them could have a secret sexual relationship.

“That he would consider divorcing his wife if he knew the girl’s mother would marry him so he would have more access to the teen,” Harris County Constable Alan Rosen said.

The arrest warrant affidavit lays out the graphic online conversations investigators say Stevens carried on with the undercover officer, a relationship that began in April and continued through late May.

The document quotes one interaction: “Get your mother to move y’all up to Waco or Fort Worth then you can skip school all the time come with me to my house…”

Investigators said he was planning to travel to the Houston area to engage in sexual acts. They said he sent pictures of his genitals and asked for nude videos and images in return.

WATCH:

A Texas school superintendent was busted trying to hook up with a 15-year-old, sending nude pics to what turned out to be an undercover agent.
Michael Keith Stevens has spent most of his career working around children, and more victims are suspected. pic.twitter.com/89RLbG9BXy

— 🥀_ Imposter_🥀 (@Imposter_Edits) June 4, 2023

NBCDFW added:

According to a post on the Itasca ISD website, Stevens was named superintendent in 2022 and just completed his first full year leading the district. Before moving to Hill County, Stevens worked in several North Texas school districts as an administrator and teacher/coach including the Elektra ISD, Vernon ISD, Palacios ISD and Mesquite ISD.

Mesquite ISD confirmed to NBC 5 that Stevens worked at the district from 2000 to 2006, most recently at Rutherford Elementary. The district said there was nothing to indicate Stevens left the district on anything other than good terms.

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“Stevens has been around children his entire work life. He has been a coach, a principal and assistant principal in various towns across North Texas,” Rosen said. “He is married with no children.”

Rosen urged parents to pay close attention to what activities their children take part in online.

“You must make it a priority to know what your children are doing online. You can see by this sting operation, there are dangerous predators out there grooming our children and can cause great harm,” Rosen. “The sheer number of predators, new technology and new apps to jeep up with, we must all work together. Predators like the ones we arrested in this sting should scare all of you.”