Prosecutors have brought forth 10 additional charges against Kiarra Jones, a former bus monitor at Littleton Public Schools, who stands accused of assaulting a non-verbal autistic child on a school bus in March. The 29-year-old Jones was initially arrested in April on a single charge of third-degree assault of an at-risk person, a low-level felony. However, this week, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to add seven more assault charges and two child abuse charges against Jones.
Jones, who was scheduled to appear in court on Friday, was fired from her position as a bus monitor on March 19, following an incident where she allegedly elbowed a 10-year-old boy in the stomach, punched him in the head, and forcefully slammed his head into a bus window. The attack was unprovoked, as the child had been sitting quietly before becoming a victim of Jones’ aggression. Authorities discovered evidence suggesting that Jones had also assaulted another child.
The arrest of Jones adds to a concerning trend of Colorado school bus attendants being accused of mistreating children with autism. In a separate incident, Monica Burke, a bus assistant in the St. Vrain Valley School District, faced charges for kicking and spraying disinfectant in the face of a student with disabilities. Similarly, Tyler Zanella, a paraprofessional in the Poudre School District, was arrested last year after video evidence showed him striking at least two students on a bus.
