A former piano teacher at a Fort Worth private school was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for exposing himself to multiple students.
Trent Muse, 29, pleaded guilty to five charges of indecency with a child by exposure — a third-degree felony in Texas — while teaching at Trinity Valley School, which serves students from pre-K through 12th grade.
Muse was indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury in 2024. Court records show the incidents occurred in April 2023, around the time Muse was fired from the school.
Parents of the victims, who did not share their names, gave testimonies in front of Muse following his sentencing Wednesday.
One victim’s mother said the trauma has been life altering and all-consuming for her and her family.
“Every time we drive to school, every time we hear a piano, every time we see our daughter lash out or draw inward, we’re reminded of this terrible predator and the terrible trauma he inflicted on our babies and on us,” she said.
Another victim’s mother said her daughter was 9 years old when the abuse started.
“She’s now known as one of the piano victims,” the mother said through tears. “She has trouble sleeping, she has trouble to trust adults, especially male teachers.”
Monroe Solomon, Muse’s lawyer, told KERA News while this case was “very difficult,” Muse has been “open and honest” about the charges ever since he was first arrested.
"I would hope that folks just don’t see Trent as what he’s made out to be, either through what is said in court, through reports in the media,” Solomon said. “It’s hard to see when you hear things, but he is a genuinely good man. [He made] mistakes which he has admitted to, but he is a good man.”
Trinity Valley also faces a civil lawsuit from a group of parents accusing officials of covering up the behavior for nearly two years. It accuses the Fort Worth private school and its board of negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The suit, filed in March by eight families representing nine students, says Muse repeatedly sexually abused at least 16 elementary and middle school girls — including exposing himself, coercing students to touch him and creating sexually exploitative games — during unsupervised, one-on-one lessons in a secluded classroom during the 2022-23 academic school year.
Parents in the suit also claim administrators knew about the abuse when it first occurred after he was fired when a family reported him to a lower school official. But the school didn't inform other families, instead citing “personal reasons” for Muse’s departure and encouraging parents to continue lessons with him off campus, the suit claims.
“[T]he harm to Muse’s victims and their families continues to manifest," the suit read. “Because of the continued cover-up by the school and the Board to this day, it is very likely that some parents still do not know their children are victims of Trinity Valley and of Muse.”
The school has since launched a third-party investigation in the wake of Muse’s arrest.
“After the school received a report of an incident involving Mr. Muse in April 2023, he was promptly terminated from his position and a report was made to Child Protective Services,” school officials said in a statement to The Fort Worth Report.
But the suit claims the school did not disclose the CPS report to families. And, during a May 2024 meeting, parents said they were told the CPS investigation found nothing. That turned out to be false, according to a board letter that acknowledged more serious findings.
Additional reporting by Matthew Sgroi with The Fort Worth Report.
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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