A former Littleton Public Schools bus aide charged with assaulting at least two disabled children during their rides to and from school appeared in court in person for the first time on Monday.
18th Judicial District Judge Laqunya Baker allowed a two-month postponement for Kiarra Jones, who is out on bond, to enter a plea in the case.
Jones faces nine felony counts of assault on at-risk minors and two of child abuse for allegedly hitting and shoving two children and stomping on their feet.
Monday's hearing was quick, under five minutes, but the decision to delay the arraignment was important to parents of Jones' alleged victims because it was the first time they had come face-to-face with the 29-year-old Littleton resident since she was arrested.
"I'm frustrated that she gets to walk around like nothing has happened while our children suffer," said Brittany Yarborough, whose son rode the bus, and Yarborough suspects, was abused by Jones.
Many of the children's parents had a close relationship with Jones, even trusting her, before they realized that she may have caused unexplained injuries that kept popping up, Yarborough earlier said.
Throughout the early 2023-2024 school year, Yarborough said her non-verbal son, Hunter, came home with mysterious bruises, scratches, and one day she found gum in his hair. Some of those injuries she referred to as "minor," but Hunter also suffered a broken foot which she could not explain, Yarborough said.
The injuries — which allegedly happened on some of those bus rides — started making sense when administrators from Hunter's The Joshua School called Yarborough and asked her to look at two videos taken by a mother whose son rides the same bus.
The names of the victims were redacted in court documents but the students’ parents said they are both autistic boys, including a 10-year-old shown being hit in the video that Yarborough saw, which was released by his mother this spring.
At the time, Jessica Vestal said her son came home from school with unexplained bruises all over his body in January.
Later, he got a black eye, which Vestal said Jones blamed on him hitting himself with a toy, and later he suffered a bruised foot. Unable to explain the source of the injuries, Vestal asked the school district to review the bus surveillance video.
Jones could face additional charges in relation to other children, but 18th Judicial District spokesperson Eric Ross said in a text that, "if new documented evidence is presented to our office, we will review it accordingly to decide whether additional charges are appropriate. We only file charges that we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt in court.”
A request for comment from Littleton Public Schools as to whether they have changed any policies for the upcoming school year went unanswered by press time.
Jones' arraignment is now scheduled for Aug. 26.
Most Popular
Comments / 0