A former Fort Worth private school teacher was arrested this week on child indecency charges.
Trent Muse, a former instructor at Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, was charged with five counts of indecent exposure with a child, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The private school is co-ed, serving students in grades pre-K-12.
The 28-year-old piano teacher was arrested after allegations surfaced of inappropriate conduct.
Muse was booked into the Tarrant County Jail and given a $40,000 bond for each of the five charges, for a total of $200,000, per jail records.
Bradley Perez, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Police Department, said, “The investigation is still ongoing. Due to the sensitivity of this offense and the fact that juveniles are involved, no other details are currently available to provide,” per the Star-Telegram.
Trinity Valley released a statement published by the outlet, saying, “Out of respect for the privacy of our families and to protect the integrity of the investigation, we are limited in what we can share. Our focus remains on supporting our community as we move forward together.”
According to a previous report from the Star-Telegram, the school sent out a letter to families in May regarding allegations against a former piano teacher.
“Late last week, we received reports of conduct involving our former piano teacher in the presence of students during the 2022-2023 school year,” the letter stated. “This information caused us to have concern for our school community.”
“Inappropriate conduct is not tolerated, and we were deeply disturbed by these reports,” the letter continued, noting that the unnamed teacher had not been on campus since April 2023.
The school said in a statement to the Star-Telegram at the time, “The safety and well-being of our students and the entire Trinity Valley community is our top priority. When we recently received a report about a former piano teacher, we immediately notified Child Protective Services. We are meeting with families and will be assisting and supporting the families as we move forward.”
As covered extensively by The Dallas Express, a number of scandals involving Texas public school teachers and staffers have come to light during the past year. Such accusations of misconduct have led to calls for more transparency in state authorities’ handling of such reports and improved background check procedures during the hiring process.