A former Littleton Public Schools bus aide who was captured on video assaulting nonverbal, autistic children on their way to and from school in Englewood, was sentenced Wednesday to 4½ years in prison.
Kiarra Jones, 30, pleaded guilty in January to 10 counts of third-degree assault against an at-risk person, punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a fine up to $100,000, and two counts of child abuse, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 364 days in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.
Inside a Centennial courtroom, District Court Judge Laqunya Baker ordered Jones to serve 18 months for each of the three children who were abused. The sentences will be served consecutively.
“Not only are we dealing with what should be protected classes of children, you’re also dealing with children who have underlying conditions and disabilities who can’t speak for themselves because of those underlying conditions and that in itself aggravates these cases,” Baker said before imposing her sentence.
A few weeks after Jones pleaded guilty, three families whose children were abused by Jones reached a $3.85 million settlement with Littleton Public Schools, which oversees The Joshua School, a school for kids ages 3 to 21 with developmental disabilities.
The students, who rely on caregivers to provide for their basic needs, were unable to communicate for months that anything was wrong, according to their families’ attorneys. Their parents instead began to notice injuries, including a fractured bone, a lost tooth and a black eye, and unexplained behavioral changes.
Those families, who testified in court Wednesday, said the abuse that Jones inflicted on their children, caused irreversible harm.
“Children with special needs rely on us without question and trust was broken,” one parent, Kevin Yarbrough, told the judge Thursday. “It’s not just a mistake, it is a failure of the very system meant to protect them.”
Yarbrough asked Baker to apply the maximum punishment to send a clear message to those “who harm the defenseless.”
“If there are no real consequences, then what message are we sending, your honor? My son was hurt by someone trusted to keep him safe. To her, my son did not matter,” he said.
Brittany Yarbrough, the boy’s mother, said Jones abused their son for seven months, “clawing her nails across his skin until blood was drawn.” She slapped and punched him and stamped on his feet as he was strapped into a harness on the bus.
The abuse “permanently altered his sense of safety, trust and well-being,” she said, adding that the trauma Jones inflicted has affected his ability to access education and medical appointments.
Blake and Jessica McBride said riding the bus was a “critical step” in their son’s development and path toward independence, but after Jones’ abuse, their son now requires more support.
Jessica McBride said her son came home with “deep bruising” in his ear, scratches on his shoulders and legs and “friction burns” on his arms. His aggressive behavior became more frequent and his anxiety escalated, she said.
“There is a unique kind of helplessness that comes with being a mother whose child is suffering without understanding why,” McBride said.
The harm against her son was compounded by systemic failures, she said, criticizing Littleton Public Schools and The Joshua School that were entrusted with protecting vulnerable students.
Jessica Vestal, the mother of another child who was abused, said Jones would text her with excuses to explain the injuries on Vestal’s son before he would come home from school. In one text, she told Vestal that her son was playing with a toy that broke, which caused a black eye.
Footage, however, showed that Jones took the toy from her son shortly after he got on the bus. On one 45-minute ride, she assaulted her son 59 times, Vestal said
“She relied upon their silence and her ability to protect herself from consequences,” Vestal said.
Jones was arrested in April 2024 after one boy’s parents reported bruises on his foot and a police officer reviewed footage from an on-bus camera showing Jones assaulting children on three separate bus rides to the school.
She was fired the same day the parent made the report, the district superintendent said.
Bus footage released by the families’ attorneys in April 2024 prompted a call for a deeper review of what the parents said was months of abuse.
Littleton Public Schools has since changed its policies, mandating a weekly review of bus surveillance. Bus footage must also be saved for 30 days. A special transportation task force, made up of parents, district staff and experts, will continue to meet to recommend changes in transportation policies and oversight, the school said.
Jones said she took accountability for her actions through a letter read by one of her attorneys. Jones was in court, but was not comfortable reading the letter publicly, her attorney said.
“I take responsibility for that harm, harm that cannot be described,” attorney Ashley Sullivan said, reading her client’s letter.
Her attorneys requested the judge consider probation rather than prison time for Jones to seek treatment and continue working on her mental health and rehabilitation.