Trinity Valley School and its board of trustees from a group of parents who allege that the Fort Worth private school allowed widespread sexual abuse by a former piano teacher 鈥� and worked to cover it up for nearly two years.
The suit, filed March 26 in the 153rd District Court of Tarrant County, accused the school and its board of negligence, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The plaintiffs say at least 16 elementary and middle school girls were abused by former piano teacher Trent Muse during the 2022-23 academic year.
Eight families representing nine students are seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Muse was arrested in June 2024 and indicted by a Tarrant County grand jury on five counts of indecency with a child and is currently in jail. According to the filing, Muse engaged in repeated sexual abuse 鈥� including exposing himself, coercing students to touch him and creating sexually exploitative games 鈥� during unsupervised, one-on-one lessons in a secluded classroom.
鈥淭here were no safeguards to check Muse鈥檚 behavior,鈥� the lawsuit states. 鈥淗is classroom was small and isolated on the Trinity Valley campus and had no working cameras.鈥�
Trinity Valley School serves about 1,000 students from pre-K through 12th grade.
The school said it has remained committed to supporting students and families since Muse鈥檚 arrest in a statement to the Fort Worth Report.
鈥淎fter 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,鈥� the statement read.
Parents allege that administrators knew of misconduct as early as April 2023, when a family reported Muse鈥檚 behavior to a lower school official, leading to his firing. But instead of informing other families, the school cited 鈥減ersonal reasons鈥� for Muse鈥檚 departure and encouraged parents to continue lessons with him off campus, according to the lawsuit.
The school did not disclose the CPS report to families, the lawsuit states. In a May 2024 meeting, parents said they were falsely told that the CPS investigation found nothing 鈥� a claim later acknowledging more serious findings.
The school said it launched a third-party investigation after Muse鈥檚 June 2024 arrest.
鈥淥ut of respect for the privacy of those involved and due to ongoing legal proceedings, we are limited in what we can share publicly,鈥� the statement continued. 鈥淗owever, we will continue to navigate this process with the compassion, sensitivity and thoughtfulness our community deserves.鈥�
The suit also claims the board discouraged discussion of the matter among staff and parents, with threats of legal action. Parents were allegedly admonished by the board president for informing other families.
The lawsuit claims the school鈥檚 lack of oversight allowed the abuse to continue and that its deception delayed access to care for traumatized children.
Some students have exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders and other trauma-related conditions, according to the complaint. Several are undergoing ongoing medical and psychological treatment.
鈥淲e believe the evidence will show that (the school) in this case created the conditions for this serial pedophile to continually assault and traumatize these kids,鈥� said Natalie Arbaugh, an attorney for Dallas-based Winston & Strawn representing the families. 鈥淚n my view, what鈥檚 even worse is that they then tried to sweep the entire thing under the rug and pressured the parents of these children to keep them from speaking out about what happened.鈥�
This marks the third legal challenge Trinity Valley has faced since 2025 began. Earlier suits from former and also allege misconduct, retaliation and attempts to mislead the school community about Muse鈥檚 firing.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or .
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