Former Littleton school bus aide who allegedly abused children with autism withdraws not guilty plea

LITTLETON, Colo. A former Littleton Public Schools (LPS) bus aide accused of abusing children with autism has withdrawn her not guilty plea.

Kiarra Jones, 29, faces more than a dozen charges related to the allegations. Jones was arrested earlier this year after school bus video footage from March 18, 2024, appeared to show Jones physically assaulting a 10-year-old boy.

Jones was fired from her role as a bus monitor on March 19 and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her in August.

Court records show Jones withdrew her plea last week. She has a new arraignment currently set for Dec. 16.

Mothers Jessica Vestal and Brittany Yarbrough are unfortunately bonded by the case.

We discovered our child was our children were being abused on the bus," Yarbrough said. It's not a great way to start a friendship.

When he came home and I saw bruises all over him, obviously that sparked a concern," Vestal said. "Something was wrong, and he just didn't have the mode to tell me what.

Their kids attended the Joshua School, a specialized facility that offers one-on-one instruction for children with autism. Jones had been hired as a paraprofessional by LPS and was responsible for the care of the students on the bus.

While the videos are available to watch on this website, viewers discretion is advised due to their disturbing nature.

I cried the first time I watched it. I cried the next 100 times I watched it," Yarbough said about the videos.

The two were perplexed by Jones' original not guilty plea.

How can you look at that video and think that you can get out of that? I mean, it's on video," Vestal said.

Vestal and Yarbrough said they were told the defense needed more time to prepare their case, which is why the plea was withdrawn. Jones is represented by lawyers from the public defenders office, which does not comment to the media on its cases.

She knows that she's going to be held accountable," Vestal said about the case. "It's not an if. It's a when.

Both women are frustrated by the delay, but would rather be patient and let the criminal justice system run its course.

Meanwhile, they claim their sons still live with trauma from the school bus.

We see trauma, we see PTSD, we see meltdowns, all these things that we know are related to what happened to him on the bus. And it's hard because we don't know what happened to him on the bus. We don't know the full extent," Yarbrough said. We know what the injuries were. We don't know what that looks like, and therefore we can't help him cope with that. So, that's really hard.

In August, Qusair Mohamedbhai from Rathod | Mohamedbhai LLC said in a statement that the three parents intend to bring a civil rights lawsuit against Littleton Public Schools and the Joshua School, which contracted with LPS to bring the children to and from school each day.

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