Update: Wednesday, 2 p.m.
Former Olathe North High School choir teacher Micah Horton, charged with three felony counts including unlawful sexual relations with a student, made his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon.
Horton appeared via Zoom video conference from the Johnson County Adult Detention Center in Olathe.
As the judge read the three felony charges against him, Horton shook his head.
Horton plans to hire an attorney to represent him at future court appearances.
His bond remains set at $500,000.
If he is able to make bond, he would not be allowed to have any access to computers or the internet, among other conditions.
Horton will make his next court appearance on Thursday, March 21 at 9 a.m.
Original story continues below:
The former Olathe North High School choir teacher has been charged with three felony sex crimes.
Johnson County District Court records show that Micah Horton, 35, of Shawnee, was charged last Thursday, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Horton turned himself into the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office early Tuesday afternoon.
He has since been booked into the adult detention center to await his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon. He is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Prosecutors have charged him with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and two counts of unlawful sexual relations.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred in December 2023 and January 2024, according to court records.
Horton was fired during a special meeting of the Olathe school board on February 27, and the allegations against him were referred to police.
In an email to families sent the same night the board voted to fire Horton, Olathe North principal Jason Herman said the school’s administration was “made aware of conduct in violation of board policies” regarding Horton.
Herman’s email said school officials notified Olathe district administrators, “who placed Horton on leave” and “referred the matter to local law enforcement.”
After an “internal investigation,” district administrators recommended Horton’s contract be terminated, which the board approved unanimously.
In his email, Herman told families that if their child was “directly involved” in the matter concerning Horton, then they already would have been contacted as part of the internal investigation conducted by district officials.
Herman said a long-term substitute has been named to finish the rest of the current school year teaching choir at Olathe North. The school will look to hire a new permanent choir instructor before the 2024-25 school year that begins in August.
