DENVER — A former school bus aide pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting three nonverbal students with autism in suburban Denver, according to prosecutors and court documents.
The defendant, 30-year-old Kiarra Jones, entered guilty pleas to 12 charges under a plea agreement as she was about to go to trial, the Associated Press reported. The case had been set to proceed after bus surveillance video surfaced in 2024, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Jones pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of third-degree assault of an at-risk child and two misdemeanor counts of child abuse. An office associated with 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden said the felony counts carry a maximum exposure of up to 15 years in prison, with sentencing set for March 18.
Jones was represented by lawyers from the public defender’s office, which does not comment to the media on its cases, according to the report.
The abuse allegations were brought to light after Jessica Vestal, the mother of one of the nonverbal students, asked school officials to review the bus surveillance video. The families said they sought the video in connection with injuries their son, then 10, suffered after going to school early last year, including bruises “all over his body” and a black eye.
Jessica and her husband, Devon Vestal, said they were haunted by whether their son understands what happened. “We are haunted by whether our son understands why it happened,” they said in a statement released through the law firm representing them and the two other families.
The Vestals also said they are focused on helping their child process what occurred. “We are committed to making sure that he understands how deeply he is loved,” they said in the statement, which the report said was released by Rathod Mohamedbhai, the law firm representing the Vestals and the other families.