Olathe choir teacher charged with felonies for alleged sexual relations with a student

Recently fired Olathe North High School choir teacher Micah Horton has been charged with three felonies, including two counts of unlawful sexual relations with a student.

Johnson County prosecutors last week charged Horton, 35, with felony sexual exploitation of a child, accusing him of enticing or coercing a child under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct, between Dec. 7 and Feb. 14.

Horton, of Shawnee, also faces two felony counts of unlawful sexual relations with a student who is at least 16 years old. One charge stems from Dec. 28, while the other is from Jan. 16 and 17. Both of these charges involve the same student victim, according to the criminal complaint.

It is unclear if the third charge involves the same student.

The witness list prepared by Johnson County prosecutors included the student victim, born in 2007, and two other teenagers, as well as school district staff, Olathe and Shawnee police officers, and representatives from the social media site Snapchat.

Johnson County Sheriff’s Office records show Horton was arrested Tuesday afternoon and booked in the county jail. His bond is set at $500,000.

His first court appearance is set for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Late last month, the Olathe school board held a special meeting where members voted to fire Horton, who has worked for the district since August 2021. Horton’s firing came as a shock for many parents, who said the vocal music director in the school’s theater department was popular among students. Last year he was named the district’s secondary teacher of the year, according to social media posts.

After the school board meeting, Olathe North Principal Jason Herman said in an email to families that night that administrators were “recently made aware of conduct in violation of board policies.” He said administrators placed Horton on leave, referred the matter to Olathe police and conducted an internal investigation, which led staff to recommend terminating his employment.

The principal said Horton “will not be returning to Olathe North or any Olathe Public Schools facility.”

In his email, he told families, “Please know that if administration had an awareness that your child was directly involved, you would have already been contacted as part of the internal investigation.”

A lawyer for Horton was not listed in Johnson County court records as of Tuesday afternoon. When reached by phone last month, he declined The Star’s request for an interview.

Horton has been licensed to teach in Kansas since 2021. He previously taught in the Grandview school district, according to Missouri state education department records.