NCTC says Aaron Wood’s employment ended after solicitation arrest

By GvilleTX Newsroom

North Central Texas College says drama professor Aaron Wood’s employment ended Sept. 28, 2026, three days after his arrest on an allegation of soliciting a minor by computer. In its public notice, the college said the alleged offense did not involve NCTC, its students or staff, to the institution’s knowledge.

NCTC also said Wood had no contact with students or employees after his Sept. 25 arrest.

The notice gives an employment end date without explaining how the separation occurred. It does not establish that Wood was fired. Nor does it identify an arrest location or mention a Florida warrant.

According to NCTC, Wood began his drama faculty appointment on Sept. 1, 2024. The college’s fall course listing identifies him as the instructor for Theater Appreciation that semester, providing a separate record of his teaching assignment.

A later college production announcement described the June 2025 production of Next to Normal as Wood’s first musical since joining the faculty the previous September. That announcement placed the scheduled performances at NCTC’s Denton Black Box Theater.

An adjunct drama instructor vacancy posted by NCTC in October 2023 made employment conditional on a criminal background check. That requirement applied to the advertised opening. The posting does not document what screening occurred when Wood was hired or establish the results of any check in his case.

At the University of North Texas, a separate policy governing youth programs addresses arrests after a background check. Personnel must disclose an arrest or conviction occurring since their latest check to their program manager within five days. Managers must immediately forward those disclosures to the university’s youth-protection director. The policy calls for individual review of adverse criminal histories when determining eligibility to work with minors.

Nationally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that suspected online-enticement reports more than doubled between 2024 and 2025. Those totals represent reports of suspected exploitation, not convictions. They do not measure the crime rate in Gainesville.

The center’s explanation of CyberTipline data identifies broader reporting obligations as one contributor to the increase. The growth in reports therefore does not, by itself, establish an equivalent rise in underlying offenses. According to the center, the 2024 REPORT Act expanded electronic service providers’ mandatory reporting duties to include suspected online enticement and child sex trafficking.

_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._