A former theater arts teacher who spent more than a decade in the Houston area’s New Caney and Humble school districts has been arrested on a felony charge of indecency with a child, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Garrett Cross, 38, turned himself in to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on May 8 after investigators obtained an arrest warrant the previous day. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony. As of Saturday, he remained in custody.
The investigation centers on Cross’ time at Pine Valley Middle School in New Caney ISD, where he taught theater arts from August 2012 through June 2022, according to New Caney ISD spokesperson Scott Powers.
The alleged incident involving a student occurred more than five years ago, according to the sheriff’s office. The case is being handled by the MCSO Special Victims Unit in coordination with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office Public Integrity Division.
After leaving New Caney ISD, Cross was hired by Humble ISD, where he taught theater arts at Timberwood Middle School for three years before moving to Kingwood Middle School last August. Humble ISD learned of the criminal investigation in December and placed Cross on administrative leave, according to a letter that Kingwood Middle School Principal Michael Curl sent to families. Cross was not allowed on campus during the spring 2026 semester and officially resigned on May 5, Curl said.
The charge involves a New Caney ISD student; Humble ISD officials said no district students are implicated.
“This news is highly upsetting to us all,” Curl wrote. “Counselors are available to speak with any student who may want to talk.”
The Texas Education Agency has also opened an investigation into Cross.
The arrest comes days after the TEA added 21 individuals to the state’s Do Not Hire Registry, a public database of people barred from employment in any Texas public school because of serious misconduct or disqualifying criminal history.
The registry, created under House Bill 3 and fully launched in 2020, flags individuals as either “under investigation” or “not eligible for hire,” with the latter designation serving as a permanent bar from any role in Texas public schools, including contractor and non-certified positions. State law requires every district and charter school to check the registry before hiring any employee or contractor with student access.
Whether the registry would have flagged Cross before Humble ISD brought him on in 2022 is unclear, since the allegations at the center of the current investigation appear to have surfaced more recently. TEA’s expanded SEMARC database, which went live May 1 and pulls misconduct data from multiple state agencies into a single pre-screening tool, is designed specifically to address the kind of gap that allows individuals with a history in one system to find employment in another.
Another Humble ISD theater teacher, Christian Hockless, is under investigation by the TEA, according to the state’s Do Not Hire Registry. Hockless was hired in 2025 as an “apprentice” teacher in July 2025 and is listed as the Theater Director for West Lake Middle School.
In just the past few years, hundreds of Texas teachers have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children. Thousands of educators have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct.
