FORT WORTH – A former piano teacher at Fort Worth’s Trinity Valley School was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to five counts of indecency with a child by exposure.
Trent Austin Muse, 29, was arrested in June 2024, more than a year after his firing from Trinity Valley. He was released from the Tarrant County jail on $40,000 bond a few days after his arrest, court records show.
Related:Former Fort Worth teacher faces child indecency charges, court records show
According to a Fort Worth police arrest-warrant affidavit, Muse was accused of exposing himself to multiple students during one-on-one piano lessons at Trinity Valley. The affidavit said the abuse occurred from August 2022 to April 2023, and that Muse informed police about the abuse during an interview in June 2024 as police were investigating several reports of abuse made by students.
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At the sentencing hearing, Muse appeared before 485th District Court Judge Steven Jumes as the parents of five of his victims gave statements on how Muse’s actions altered the lives of their children and their families.
Many of the parents held the hands of those sitting next to them and dotted their eyes with tissues as statements were given. Fourteen people were seated on the state’s side of the courtroom, including the five parents who spoke.
Each parent who spoke expressed dissatisfaction with the length of Muse’s sentence and said he should have faced more charges than he did, as they pointed to there being more victims than the five Muse was convicted of abusing.
When asked for comment on the allegation of there being more victims, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office said in a statement that the office filed charges for “every arrest that the Fort Worth Police Department made regarding this defendant.”
Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center, pictured on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Fort Worth. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)
The first parent who spoke, a father of one of Muse’s victims, called Muse a “coward” and “pedophile” who violated his daughter’s trust in what was supposed to be a safe space. He said the abuse occurred weekly during the entirety of Muse’s eight-month employment at Trinity Valley.
Another parent, a mother, called Muse a “monster” and said it was impossible to fully articulate the trauma her daughter had experienced from Muse during her victim impact statement. She said Muse and Trinity Valley, who she alleged attempted to conceal Muse’s actions, left a “trail of wreckage” in the community, and said each family will live permanently with the damage Muse caused.
Another mother said Muse stole her daughter’s innocence and used his position of power to cause unspeakable pain.
“You are a manipulative, repulsive and deeply immoral individual,” the mother said.
The final parent who spoke, a mother, said Muse hurt more than five children and said the plea deal does not capture “the full scope” of his abuse. She said her daughter has dealt with constant nightmares, ostracization at school and now has difficulty trusting male teachers because of Muse’s abuse.
“The pain you caused will outlive your prison sentence,” she said.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Muse was taken into custody.
Monroe Solomon, Muse’s attorney, said after the hearing that the sentencing was “fair and reasonable” given the circumstances of the case.
Trinity Valley is a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade independent school in Fort Worth that serves approximately 1,000 students.
Trinity Valley and its board of trustees is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by the parents of nine of Muse’s alleged victims, though the lawsuit said Muse had contact with as many as 16 possible victims. According to the complaint, which was filed in March in Tarrant County district court, Muse sexually abused elementary and middle school-aged students during one-on-one piano lessons in a secluded classroom.
The suit alleges Trinity Valley was negligent through a lack of supervision over Muse’s lessons and by ignoring alleged signs of his abuse of students. The suit said the abuse occurred up until April 2023. Muse was fired in May 2023, according to the lawsuit.
The suit also alleges Trinity Valley attempted to cover up Muse’s actions after his firing by not informing parents why he was let go and by instructing teachers and parents not to discuss the situation. The suit also alleges school administrators informed parents Muse left for personal reasons when parents asked about the situation.
Following Muse’s arrest, Trinity Valley said a third-party investigation would be launched to look into the situation.
The school is also facing civil lawsuits from a former administrator, Jeffrey Snyder, as well as from Blair Lowry, the former head of school of Trinity Valley, who both allege Trinity Valley defamed them in a letter sent to parents by making them “scapegoats” for the Muse situation.
According to the suit, Snyder and other administrators took swift action to address the allegations against Muse when they learned about an alleged incident involving a student on April 25, 2023, leading to his termination in early May 2023. Snyder’s suit said a CPS investigation into Muse was closed about a month later.
In May 2024, more sexual abuse allegations against Muse surfaced, according to Snyder’s suit.
Lowry resigned in June 2024. While the school did not acknowledge at the time if her resignation was related to the incident with Muse, Snyder’s lawsuit alleges Lowry was placed on leave after the additional allegations came to light and resigned several days later.
Lowry’s lawsuit also alleges the school violated a non-disparagement clause in her separation agreement by defaming her in the letter sent to parents. Her suit alleges this was done in response to her complaining that her “forced resignation” was due to gender discrimination.
A spokesperson for Trinity Valley said in an email that since Muse’s arrest, the school has “remained steadfast in its commitment to supporting our students and families and seeking answers as best we can.”
The statement said the school initiated a third-party investigation following Muse’s June 2024 arrest.
“The findings of this investigation have guided the school’s hands in strengthening our family and student support services and revisiting our policies and expectations,” the statement said. “We know that Muse’s actions have left a profound emotional weight on our community, and it is our sincere hope that this outcome allows for a path toward closure for the victims and our school. We will continue to navigate future proceedings with the compassion, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness our community deserves.”
The spokesperson did not respond to an additional question about the results of the investigation and did not respond to a question about the allegations in the lawsuits.