A Littleton Public Schools bus aid near Denver was fired and arrested after being caught on camera appearing to assault a nonverbal student, and the child’s mother wants accountability.
A statement released by the Englewood Police Department confirmed that the former bus aid, 29-year-old Kiarra Monte Laron Jones, was arrested on April 4. She is charged with a felony count of third-degree assault against an at-risk person. She was arraigned April 5 and was released on a $5,000 bond.
According to local news reporters, the mother of the 10-year-old victim spoke at a press conference on April 9, where she sent a message to the school district.
“If I could say one thing to Littleton Public Schools, it would be, how dare you? How dare you fail my son in such an astonishingly preventable way?” added Jessica Vestal.
Local news reports states that the parents of two other students also came forward to claim their children, who are nonverbal and have autism, are also victims of physical abuse. They said they have been asking the school district to investigate the allegations for months.
The law firm retained by the three famiies, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, shared videos with a recording date of March 18 that allegedly show Jones punching, elbowing, pushing and apparently kicking the student.
The law firm states the children had unexplained scratches, bruises on their bodies and feet, a lost tooth, a broken toe and a black eye.
The three families hired the law firm after the alleged abuse on a school bus came to light. According to the law firm, the bus aide physically and mentally abused students with severe autism and nonverbal communication since at least last September.
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