Left: Kiarra Jones (Arapahoe County Jail). Right: A screenshot of a video of Jones assaulting a child with autism on a Colorado school bus (KUSA/YouTube).
A Colorado school bus aide pleaded guilty after she was caught on video striking at least three nonverbal students who have autism, devastating parents who thought she was there to protect their kids.
Kiarra Jones, 30, on Monday pleaded guilty to 10 counts of third-degree felony assault of an at-risk child and two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District said. She was slated to go on trial Monday but opted to plead guilty before a jury could decide her fate.
The investigation began in 2024 when one of the students came home with bruises on his foot that were not there before. The boy's mother called the bus director for Littleton Public Schools and asked to review the surveillance video from inside the buses. Video revealed that not only did Jones assault the boy on the day in question but she hit him on several occasions as well as other students. There were at least three victims.
A father of one of the victims told reporters after Monday's hearing that he had "mixed emotions to say the least."
"It's frustrating," said Kevin Yarborough, per local CBS affiliate KCNC. "My son is not able to speak, so I feel my job as a father is to represent him in court, so it is frustrating. That being said, I am happy that the next step in this process is going forward. I'm happy that after two years of delays, she was finally able to take some accountability for what she did to our kids."
Jones faces up to 15 years behind bars when she's sentenced on March 18.
The investigation began on March 28, 2024, when the Littleton Police Department learned about possible child abuse against a student on a Littleton Public Schools bus. Investigators reviewed video from the bus that showed Jones, a paraprofessional assigned to a student on the bus, hit the boy several times, according to police.
As Law&Crime previously reported, police obtained an arrest warrant for Jones on April 4, 2024, and took her to the Arapahoe County Jail, where she posted a $5,000 bond.
The parents of the three children have since hired a lawyer and said in a previous news conference their children suffered a knocked-out tooth, fractured bones and deep bruises. Jones, an employee with Littleton Schools, accompanied the kids on the bus each day as it took them to The Joshua School, which caters to students with autism.
The parents said they first noticed bumps and bruises on their then-10-year-old son in September 2023, according to local CBS affiliate KCNC. The boy's injuries worsened over time, they said.
"They took my trust and spit on it," the father said.
The mother took her concerns to The Joshua School, which told her the injuries did not happen while he was in their care. Littleton Public Schools allegedly told her there was nothing to be concerned about after she questioned them.
"I … got a phone call from Littleton police informing me that an LPS employee had severely abused my child," she said. "I went to the LPS transportation building and was in utter shock."
The parents chose to publicly release a surveillance video from the bus on the afternoon of March 18, 2024, that shows Jones elbowing and slapping the boy in the neck and face and stomping on his feet, seemingly unprovoked.
"How could someone that I trusted, someone that I was so friendly with do this to my little boy?" the mother said, fighting back tears. "The torture and torment of my sweet boy could've been stopped."
Two other families reported similar injuries to their children.
The Joshua School said in a statement it first heard concerns from a mother about her child's injuries in January.
"Self-injurious behavior and unexplained bruising isn't uncommon in our students, but because of the concern of a mother trying to identify the source of her child's injuries, we contacted the [Littleton] school district to request a review of transportation footage for anything out of the ordinary," the school said in a statement. "At that time, we were assured by LPS that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. We then continued to communicate and work with the mother to identify the source of her child's injuries."
Littleton schools gave Law&Crime the letter it sent to parents of students on the bus. The district claims it did not learn of the injuries until March 19, 2024. It then began an internal investigation and alerted law enforcement. The district fired Jones the same day.
"This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated. As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you should never have to worry about them being harmed when they are in our care," the letter said.
Ed C. Hopkins, of the Rathod Mohamedbhai law firm, which represents three families, previously said the District Attorney's Office notified the families of the additional charges against Jones for her "unspeakable and inhumane acts against Autistic students."
"The families commend the District Attorney's Office for its diligence and commitment to bring these charges on behalf of our most valuable and vulnerable citizens, our children," the law firm said. "These unprovoked assaults on a defenseless, severely disabled child are sickening. The limited information currently available indicates that abuse on the LPS bus began well before March 18, 2024. Each family is experiencing an immeasurable amount of pain, heartbreak, anger, and utter disillusionment as they seek justice for their children."
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