Colorado school social worker avoids prison after sexually assaulting student
A 29-year-old social worker who was employed by a metro Denver school district must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life and must undergo treatment for at least two decades, according to a sentence handed down earlier this week.
Chloe Castro was ordered Thursday to serve 20 years to life in the state's Intensive Supervision Probation program for sex offenders. The actual length of her treatment beyond 20 years will depend on the success of that treatment.
Castro was also required to spend the next three years in a community corrections facility, and to pay the family of her victim $14,430.
Castro told the court during Thursday's hearing that she was committed to treatment and would "never work with children again," according to a press release from the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
That office's prosecutor in the case reportedly told the judge, per the release, "There is no sentence that I could ask for which will give the community their trust back in Jefferson County Public Schools, and there is not a sentence that will take away the trauma this child suffered."
Castro was arrested in November 2024 after the parent of a student contacted the Arvada Police Department about a possible sexual relationship between Castro and his child. At that time, the student was younger than 15 years of age.
Castro was charged with three felonies. Two months ago, she pleaded guilty to one of them. The other two counts were dropped in exchange for her guilty plea. She faced a potential prison term between four years and life, according to an earlier press release from the DA's office about the guilty plea.
Castro met the victim while employed as a social worker for Jefferson County Public Schools. At the time of her arrest, she worked at Manning Middle School, Drake Middle School, and Wheat Ridge High School, according to the school district.
"Social workers," according to the school district's website, "provide direct and consultative mental health and behavioral services to students who are identified as having an educational disability and are eligible for special education." There is overlap in the duties of a social worker with those of school counselors and school psychologists.
After her arrest, the DA's office appealed to those school communities for any other suspected incidents of impropriety or criminal conduct between Castro and students. It did not learn of any, a DA's office spokesperson told CBS Colorado.
