COLORADO SCHOOL BUS AIDE CAUGHT ON CAMERA STRIKING NONVERBAL AUTISTIC BOY
Fox News reports families of three Colorado special needs children held a press conference to draw attention to alleged abuse of their children by a school bus aide employed by Littleton Public Schools, and a video of one incident has gone public.
One of the accusations came from the parents of a 10-year-old, nonverbal autistic boy who can be seen on a video being punched, hit, and stomped on by a suspect identified as former bus aide Kiarra Jones.
“Due to their inability to communicate verbally, the victims couldn’t disclose the abuse they endured,” law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, which represents the families, said in a press release.
A police affidavit shared by the law firm says Jones is 29 years old, and that the alleged assaults happened in February and March.
The affidavit, filed April 4, says Jones faces charges of crimes against an at-risk adult or juvenile third-degree assault and crimes against an at-risk adult or juvenile.
Jessica Vestal, the mother of the 10-year-old boy, said her son, who cannot speak, first came home from school in suburban Denver with bruises all over his body in January. Other injuries followed, including a black eye in February, which she said a bus aide blamed on him hitting himself with a toy, and a bruised foot in March.
It wasn’t until Vestal asked to review the bus surveillance video last month, which she made public Tuesday, that she learned the bus aide was abusing her son.
“Had bus footage been routinely audited, the torture and torment of my sweet boy could have been stopped,” Vestal said.
Jones was released from jail shortly after her arrest. She is being represented by lawyers from the public defender’s office, which does not comment to the media on its cases.
A letter sent to parents on April 5 by Littleton Public Schools Superintendent Todd Lambert states Jones was terminated after her arrest on March 19, “the day these concerns were brought to our attention.”
Jones had worked for the school district since August 2023. Her next court date is May 3, 2024.