John Jefferson
Inset: Imagine Kay Ewer (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Brady Exploration School in Lakewood, Colorado (KDVR/YouTube).
A special needs student in Colorado was sexually assaulted by a teacher who earned the trust of both him and his mother while she secretly “preyed” on the 16-year-old, even going so far as to direct him to bring a gun to school to shoot a fellow faculty member.
Imagine Kay Ewer, 28, was sentenced to four years in prison after she pleaded guilty to assaulting a student in Jefferson County in 2023, according to the Colorado First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. A press release posted online last week by the DA’s office outlines what went down at the sentencing hearing, with the victim’s mom showing up to address the court and Ewer about the “profound emotional toll this had on her family,” the release says.
“The defendant preyed on my son, leading him to believe she genuinely cared for him, all while exploiting him for money and manipulating him into thinking he was ‘the one,’” his mom said. “What makes this even more painful is that I trusted the defendant, […] had I known what was truly happening, I would never have allowed her such close access to him.”
Ewer, a paraprofessional who worked at Brady Exploration High School in Lakewood and for Jefferson County Public Schools from 2015 to 2023, admitted to sexually assaulting the teen after being assigned to care for him as a special education student, the DA’s office says. She pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a child “by one in a position of trust” and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the first degree, which are felonies.
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“In November 2023, the Lakewood police were called after a teacher at the school reported witnessing inappropriate writing on one of the victim’s class worksheets,” according to prosecutors. “The subsequent criminal investigation revealed that Ewer’s ‘favoritism’ towards the child was noticed by staff almost immediately, with evidence of an inappropriate relationship beginning in approximately September 2023.”
The DA’s office says that while investigating Ewer, authorities uncovered evidence of “frequent sexual encounters” and “constant digital communication,” including a trove of text messages that cops found. She admitted to using “derogatory remarks” to put down the victim and also said she introduced him to “drugs, alcohol and weapons” — including a gun that Ewer asked the teen to use on a colleague.
“In the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of text messages, the defendant would repeatedly assert that she wanted the victim to bring a gun to their sexual encounters and even directed the child victim ‘to bring the gun to school and shoot another faculty member in the leg,’” explained Special Victims Prosecutor Brynn Chase in a statement.
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Ewer, herself, spoke at the sentencing on Monday and expressed remorse over what she did to the student, saying: “I just want to apologize to the victim and the victim’s family. I’m really sorry; this will never happen again.”
Upon her release from prison, Ewer will be subject to lifetime registration as a sex offender and probation in the Sex Offender Intensive Supervision program. She is also facing drug charges in Douglas County for an arrest that occurred while she was out on bond for the assault case.
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