Texas personal college slammed for ‘masking up’ piano instructor’s abuse as 16 ladies, as younger as 6, come ahead
The heartbroken families of several girls who were allegedly abused by a pedophile piano teacher are suing a Texas private school for a ‘cover-up’.
Trent Muse, a former teacher at Trinity Valley High School in Fort Worth, is accused of sexually abusing 16 students ranging in age from six to 11 years old.
A lawsuit launched by the families on March 25 blasts Muse as a ‘serial pedophile who was left unmonitored, unsupervised, and alone behind a closed door with vulnerable children’ in the 2022-2023 academic year.
Trinity Valley, which charges just under $30,000 per year, is accused of ‘intentional concealment and ongoing cover-up of this widespread sexual abuse’ which ’caused injury to at least 16 children and likely more’.
Parents say Muse ‘masturbated in front of the students, touched their legs, chest, and genital areas, forced them to touch his penis, put his penis on them, and exposed his penis repeatedly to countless elementary-aged girls’ during ‘piano lessons’.
‘Muse even created sadistic ‘games’ for students in which he would reward students with ‘prizes’ after he coerced them into touching him and vice versa,’ the lawsuit reads.
‘In at least one instance, a child fought Muse, drawing blood, but that did not stop him. He continued to subject his young victims to abuse undeterred.’
The lawsuit claims that Trinity school staff ‘knew something was awry’ because one employee ‘witnessed a child crying while Muse physically forced her into piano lessons’.
Trent Muse, a former teacher at Trinity Valley High School in Fort Worth, is accused of sexually abusing 16 students ranging in age from six to 11 years old
Trinity Valley High School (pictured) in Fort Worth charges close to $30,000 per academic year
‘School personnel also witnessed Muse being inappropriately affectionate while returning a student back to her homeroom,’ the legal document continues.
‘Teachers were concerned about Muse’s inappropriate conduct, but Muse’s abuse was permitted to continue due to Defendants’ negligent and utterly inadequate protocols for preventing, detecting, and addressing such behavior and protecting the young children under their care.’
The suit describes Muse as ‘a male in his mid-twenties with no prior teaching experience’ who was giving ‘piano lessons’ in a ‘small and secluded’ classroom on campus which had no working cameras.
Trinity, which is based in Trinity Heights on the southwest outskirts of Fort Worth, even allowed Muse to give piano lessons after hours and during school holidays when no-one was around, according to the lawsuit.
When one family complained about Muse to Trinity, the school ‘did not take adequate steps to address this misconduct or even communicate to parents of piano students what had happened’, the parents said.
‘Instead, Trinity Valley concealed the misconduct from piano students’ families and lied to them about it repeatedly,’ the lawsuit claims.
Trinity did eventually dismiss Muse in April 2023, but said he had left for ‘personal reasons’, per the suit.
‘The school even went so far as to encourage families to continue lessons with Muse off campus and affirmatively misrepresented to parents in writing that there was ‘no cause for concern’ with regard to Muse’s departure,’ the lawsuit said.
‘The school completely hid the fact that it had reported Muse’s conduct to CPS (Child Protective Services).
The lawsuit takes aim at school board employees including President Brant Martin (pictured)
Trinity Valley High School (pictured) in Fort Worth charges close to $30,000 per academic year
‘As if that were not enough, the school and the Board doubled down on their concealment by conspiring to silence anyone who tried to discover the full extent of Muse’s misconduct—instructing teachers that they would be fired for discussing the Muse ‘situation’ with parents.’
Court documents show Muse was arrested in June 2024, and he has been charged with at least five counts of indecency with a child.
The lawsuit takes aim at several school board employees, including President Brant Martin, Vice President Kit Ulrich, Secretary Maxwell Lea, and Treasurer Mindy Hegi.
They also name former President Jenny Rosell and ‘committee members who are or were involved in helping the school address some of the allegations’, Geeth Chettiar, and Palmer Lummis.
Trinity Valley School has released a statement in response to the lawsuit.
‘Since the arrest of former piano teacher Trent Muse last year, Trinity Valley School has remained steadfast in its commitment to supporting our students and families and seeking answers as best we can,’ the school said.
‘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.
‘Upon learning of his June 2024 arrest, we immediately initiated a third-party investigation to understand the circumstances surrounding Mr. Muse’s termination and the school’s actions related to his departure.
‘Out of respect for the privacy of those involved and due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are limited in what we can share publicly.
‘However, we will continue to navigate this process with the compassion, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness our community deserves.’
The families are demanding compensation for emotional distress damages, medical expenses, tuition expenses, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and the costs of launching the lawsuit.
