DENVER — Police arrested a former Littleton Public Schools paraprofessional last week after they said video footage revealed she beat a severely autistic, non-verbal child on a school bus for special needs students.

Parents of the children who rode that bus, which takes kids to the Joshua School in Englewood, say they believe the alleged abuse had been happening for months and that there are additional victims.

Englewood police arrested Kiarra Jones, 29, on Friday on a felony charge of knowing/reckless assault of an at-risk person and crimes against an at-risk person resulting in injury, according to court documents.

Littleton Public Schools fired Jones on March 19 after the district and law enforcement officials reviewed video footage of the previous day’s bus ride, district officials confirmed. The mother of the victim had complained about bruises on her son.

Jones remained in custody as of Tuesday morning, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

“This kind of behavior cannot be and is not tolerated,” Littleton Public Schools Superintendent Todd Lambert wrote in an email to families who rode on the impacted bus. “As parents, you trust us with the well-being of your children and you should never have to worry about them being harmed when they are in our care.”

Video of the March 18 incident provided by attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai — who plans to represent the impacted families in an upcoming lawsuit — shows a woman Mohamedbhai identified as Jones sitting next to a 10-year-old boy on the school bus.

In the video, the child — who The Denver Post is not identifying — is sitting calmly when Jones, unprovoked, is seen elbowing the boy in the stomach, punching him in the head and slamming his head into the bus window.

At times, Jones’ actions in the video are obstructed by a bus seat, but Jessica Vestal, the boy’s mother, said Jones also stomped on her son’s feet and hit his legs.

In an interview with reporters, Vestal said she could only stomach watching two minutes and 25 seconds of her son being beaten before asking police detectives to turn the video off.

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