A Colorado school bus aide was arrested and fired from her job after video showed her repeatedly hitting a nonverbal boy who was strapped into a harness on the bus.
Kiarra Jones, who worked for Littleton Public Schools, was arrested on April 4 and has already bonded out of jail, KUSA reported.
In the graphic video, allegedly recorded on March 18, Jones elbows the 10-year-old boy, then hits him in the face with her fist before stomping on his foot.
An Englewood Police detective said in an affidavit filed in her arrest that he saw more footage showing abuse on two other days. On Tuesday, police said Jones assaulted “more than one” student.
According to CPR News, the officer said he saw a February 13 video in which Jones hit a boy in the mouth with a closed fist, poked him in the chin, hit him with the back of her hand, and pulled his hair. She also repeatedly dropped a toy on the ground and held his head down and grabed his jaw when he went to get it. Another video from the same day showed Jones pulling another students hair, the officer said.
Ed Hopkins Jr., an attorney representing families of three children involved, said the abuse represented “an institutional failure.”
“Multiple people had to fail for this to happen,” he said. “There was video in the bus and it still happened over months. The family reached out to the school and it still continued to happen over months. That’s failure.”
Another attorney representing at least two families of children who ride the bus released the March 18 video, KUSA said.
“The abuses of special needs children continues to occur because school districts treat this community as a burden rather than a blessing,” attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai said. “School districts routinely fail to train and support those who work with special needs student populations.”
Mohamedbhai said the students were transported to The Joshua School, which works with students on the autism spectrum and with developmental disabilities, on buses provided by Littleton Public Schools. The children involved are nonverbal and were unable to tell anyone about the abuse.
At a news conference, families of the children said they began raising concerns about injuries suffered by their children in August and that the school district said it had found no issues.
Littleton Public Schools said Jones was hired in August after passing a background check and was fired on March 19. In a statement, the district said she had “very limited access” to students.
“This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated,” the communication to parents said. “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.”
Jones was arrested on suspicion of assault.
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[Featured image: Video screenshot/Rahthod Mohamedbhai. Kiarra Jones/Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office]
