A mother releases video of her autistic son being hit by an aide on a school bus to raise awareness
DENVER — In January, Jessica Vestal’s 10-year-old autistic son, who cannot speak, came home from school in a Denver suburb with bruises all over his body. Other injuries followed, including a black eye in February, which she said a bus assistant blamed on hitting himself with a toy, and a bruised foot in March.
It wasn’t until Vestal asked to review the bus surveillance video last month, which she made public Tuesday, that she discovered the bus assistant was abusing her son.
The assistant, Kiarra Jones, 28, has been charged with one count of third-degree assault on a person at risk, according to court records. She was released from jail shortly after her arrest, but did not return a call seeking comment on a number listed for her. She is represented by attorneys from the public defender’s office, which does not comment on her cases to the media.
In an April 5 letter to parents, Littleton Public School Superintendent Todd Lambert said Jones was fired after her arrest.
“This type of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated. As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you never have to worry about them being harmed while in our care,” Lambert wrote.
The district did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment on allegations from Vestal, its attorneys and other parents that the district failed to investigate what was behind their children’s unexplained injuries. They are considering a lawsuit against the school district.
Since Brittany Yarborough learned what happened to Vestal’s son, she now believes Jones is also responsible for the injuries her 11-year-old nonverbal son suffered on the same bus.
In a statement, police in Englewood, Colorado said they discovered more than one autistic student was abused and are continuing to review an “extensive amount” of video and other evidence to ensure all victims are identified.
Vestal said she was only able to watch her son being elbowed, punched and punched for about two minutes, but wanted to release the footage because she suspects this is happening to other children without anyone knowing.
“You can’t tell how awful it is without looking at it,” she said. “And if he had to go through it, I think the least everyone could do is pay attention to it so it doesn’t happen again.”
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This story has been corrected to show that Jones has been charged with one count of third-degree assault on a person at risk, and not one count of abuse of a person in a position of trust. It has also been corrected to show that her age is 28, not 29.