2 North Texas men sentenced in separate federal child exploitation cases

PLANO, Texas — Two North Texas men were sentenced this week to more than 14 and 16 years in federal prison in separate child-exploitation cases prosecuted in the Eastern District of Texas, federal officials announced.

In the first case, Trinity Snow Cassells, 34, of Denton — who also used the name Dustin Joseph McDuffie — was sentenced to 170 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone handed down the sentence on Oct. 21.

According to federal prosecutors, Cassells was the subject of 10 CyberTips between 2018 and 2024. Investigators said he used multiple social media platforms, email and cloud storage accounts, and the dark web to trade child sexual abuse material. He also communicated with people he believed were m