School bus aide pleads guilty to assaulting autistic students unable to report abuse

The abuse was discovered after the mother of one of the nonverbal students asked school officials to review surveillance video

This booking photo provided by the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office shows Kiarra Jones. Jones, a school bus aide shown on surveillance video hitting a non-verbal autistic boy, has been charged with 10 more counts of abuse involving two children, prosecutors said Friday, May 3, 2024. (18th Judicial District Attorney's Office via AP)

A former school bus aide has pleaded guilty to assaulting three nonverbal autistic students who were unable to report the abuse.

Kiarra Jones, 30, admitted to 12 charges on Monday under a plea agreement, avoiding a trial in suburban Denver. The abuse, which prosecutors say was revealed in 2024 by bus surveillance video, involved students with autism.

Ms Jones is represented by lawyers from the public defender’s office, who do not comment on their cases to the media.

The abuse was discovered after Jessica Vestal, the mother of one of the nonverbal students, asked school officials to review the surveillance video to try to explain a series of injuries her son, then 10, suffered after going to school early last year, including bruises all over his body and a black eye.

Devon Vestal, front, and his wife, Jess, react as they listen during a news conference to announce plans to sue the Littleton, Colo., school district for abuse suffered by their autistic child while riding the bus to class Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Jessica and her husband, Devon Vestal, said they are haunted by whether their son understands why it happened.

“We are committed to making sure that he understands how deeply he is loved,” they said in statement released by the law firm representing them and the two other families, Rathod Mohamedbhai.

Jones pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of third-degree assault of an at-risk child and two misdemeanor counts of child abuse, the office of 18th Judicial District Attorney Amy Padden said. She faces up to 15 years in prison for the felony counts at sentencing set for March 18.