ENGLEWOOD — Parents of several children with autism are suing The Joshua School, alleging that staff allowed a Littleton Public Schools bus aide to abuse their children for months despite multiple reports to staff of unexplained injuries.
Kiarra Jones, the former bus aide, pleaded guilty earlier this month to 10 counts of third-degree assault of an at-risk child and two counts of child abuse for assaulting three children on a school bus in 2024. Bus surveillance video shows Jones elbowing, punching, hitting and stomping on one of the children while sitting next to him.
A civil lawsuit filed against The Joshua School and five staff members claims staff repeatedly failed to act after receiving multiple reports about physical injuries to children, including scratches, bruises, a lost tooth, a fractured foot and a black eye. The lawsuit says warning signs of abuse began in September 2023, when school staff observed significant behavioral changes in the three child victims.
Read the full lawsuit below.
Instead of acting as mandatory reporters and reporting suspected abuse to law enforcement or child protective services, the lawsuit said the school's policy directed its employees to refer all complaints to the school's executive director for investigation.
Jessica Vestal, one of the parents suing the school, said she first noticed something was wrong when her son Dax, who is non-verbal and has autism, had bruises on his arms, ribs and thighs in January 2024.
"I was happily handing him over to these people that I thought that I could trust," she said. "My kid is covered in bruises, and I'm reaching out to people that I thought I had a really good relationship with and could really lean on for support and to tell me the truth and what's going on."
Vestal said she made multiple reports over the next few months about the unexplained injuries to her son. The civil lawsuit claims staff blamed some of Dax's bruising on self-injurious behavior.
The lawsuit, however, includes a January 2024 text message exchange between a teacher and the school's director about Dax's injuries. The school's director writes to the teacher, "The bruises look bad." The teacher responds, "Yeah. Like the arms are def[initely] fingers/hands." The lawsuit said the school's director followed up with the teacher to ask if Dax ever grabs his own arms. The teacher, according to the lawsuit, responded, "No."
"Months and months of abuse could have been prevented," said Ciara Anderson, one of the attorneys representing the group of parents. "Colorado law requires that mandatory reporters make a report whenever they have a suspicion of abuse."
The Joshua School sent Denver7 the following statement in response to the civil lawsuit:
Jones was arrested in April 2024 and fired from the district. She pleaded guilty to 12 of 13 charges in a plea agreement earlier this month and is awaiting sentencing.
