A Georgia judge granted former Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Superintendent Devon Horton a $25,000 bond Monday on his charges of cruelty to children and aggravated assault involving strangulation.
Horton was arrested Saturday and booked in the DeKalb County Jail in Georgia for attempting to choke his wife when his two children were present, according to reporting from Atlanta-area publication Decaturish.
As he set the bond Monday, Magistrate Court Judge S. Derek Johnson-Gage considered Horton’s lack of criminal history in Georgia but noted concerns of potential escalation.
“Whenever you’re talking about allegations of putting your hands around someone’s neck, that offers a lot of concern,” he said. “It does not take much pressure for something worse to happen.”
Upon granting the bond, Johnson-Gage prohibited Horton from visiting his wife in person but allowed him to see his children with a third party present.
Horton’s arrest came three months after he and three others were indicted on 17 counts of embezzlement, wire fraud and tax fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, related to activities during his leadership of District 65. Horton pleaded not guilty to all charges in October and is scheduled to appear in court again next month.
Horton was the superintendent of District 65 from 2020 to 2023. In 2023, he became the superintendent of DeKalb County School District in Georgia, a position he held until shortly after his indictment in Illinois.
Christiane Horton, his wife, said his actions were a reaction to stress related to his federal charges and asked the judge to set a bond.
“He’s not a violent person,” she said. “I just feel like he is under a lot of stress, and I would just be so grateful if you could grant him bond.”
Terence Campbell (Pritzker ’95), Horton’s attorney, previously told The Daily in an email Sunday that the incident was “a personal matter between husband and wife” and that “no child was involved in the argument in any way.”
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— Trial date for Devon Horton embezzlement and fraud case to be set in February
— Former D65 Superintendent Devon Horton indicted on 17 counts of embezzlement, fraud
