A Denton man has been sentenced to over 14 years in federal prison for child exploitation offenses, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs of the Eastern District of Texas.
Trinity Snow Cassells, also known as Dustin Joseph McDuffie, age 34, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography. He received a sentence of 170 months in federal prison from U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on October 21, 2025.
Court documents revealed that Cassells was linked to ten separate CyberTips between 2018 and 2024. Authorities said he used several social media platforms, cloud storage services, email accounts, and the dark web to exchange child pornography. He communicated with individuals he believed were minors on platforms popular among children, groomed them for illegal sexual activity, and encouraged them to harm other children. As part of these actions, he distributed child pornography.
“This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” the press release stated. “Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”
The investigation was conducted by the Denton Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Miller prosecuted the case.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood: www.justice.gov/psc
