Former Colorado school bus aid sentenced to 4 years in prison after abusing students with autism

A former Colorado school bus aide was sentenced to 4-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday. Kiarra Jones was caught on bus security cameras hitting non-verbal autistic children.

Jones, 30, was arrested in 2024 and pleaded guilty to 12 charges two months ago.

Littleton Public Schools hired Jones in 2023. Up until when she was arrested the following year, her role was to help children as a paraprofessional during their bus rides between their homes and the Joshua School. Families of the several children who were victimized by Jones said they saw shifts in the behavior of their children while the abuse was taking place, and some said their kids had unexplained injuries like bruises and cuts. Jones was fired by the school district as soon as officials learned that there was a police investigation into her crimes.

During her afternoon hearing in Arapahoe County Court, a letter that she wrote was read where she apologized to the parents of the children who were abused.

Devon Vestal, the father of one of the victims, said that letter and the prison sentence will not bring peace to his son.

"As recently as yesterday, standing outside the door waiting for (Jessica Vestal) to come unlock it, a bus goes by and he hears the noise and his head snaps over, and I can't think anything other than he's wondering if we're about to make him get on that bus," Vestal said.

Jessica Vestal said she was disappointed by what she heard in the hearing regarding Jones' past. One part of the former aid's letter described the difficult childhood that she endured.

"I'm honestly kind of appalled, a little bit, at the compassion that was shown for the defendent -- talking about her childhood trauma as if that is a crutch to inflict it upon someone else's child," she said.

Parents sued Littleton Public Schools and the Joshua School. The school district settled and the case with the Joshua School is still ongoing.