By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
An alarming report released by Jeffco Kids First, a grassroots advocacy group led by teacher turned activist Lindsay Datko, has exposed 33 cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by staff in Jefferson County Public Schools since 2022. The article “33 Documented Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Cases in Jeffco Schools” presents a disturbing image of a district with systemic failures.
The data reveals a pattern of misconduct going unreported to the Colorado Department of Education.
The scope of abuse: 33 cases and counting
Superintendent Tracy Dorland has received pushback regarding the handling of these incidents, with critics citing inadequate communication and insufficient safety protocols.
The report documents six arrests from late 2023 until now and features the case of Chloe Castro, a 28-year-old social worker at Three Creeks K-8 School, arrested in October 2024.
Castro faced charges for sending 21,900 texts to a 14-year-old student. Leann Kearney, a Columbine High School teacher whose license was revoked for grooming a 17-year-old after a fraudulent “homeless” declaration, was also highlighted.
High-profile arrests and ongoing secrecy
Other named individuals include Imagine Kay Ewer, a paraprofessional sentenced to four years in January 2025 for assaulting a 16-year-old, David Weiss, the former Chief of Schools fired in December 2024 amid a child pornography investigation, and James Michael Chevrier, a school psychologist arrested in May 2025 for sexual assault on a child under 15.
Many of the 33 cases remain unnamed due to sealed records under Colorado open records law (C.R.S. § 24-72-306), but Datko’s investigation uncovered alarming patterns.
How Jeffco Kids First uncovered the truth
Datko revealed how the group pieced together the evidence in an interview with RMV. “We used open records largely and police records–and paired that with reports from victims and employees and other families in order to verify the information that we’ve documented.”
The victims, she added, came to Jeffco Kids First directly, a testament to the group’s growing influence since its pandemic origins.
Failures to report let offenders move freely
One of the report’s most disturbing revelations is Jeffco’s failure to report misconduct to the Colorado Department of Education, leaving other districts vulnerable. Datko cited a case in which a teacher fired from Jeffco for grooming behavior was hired by Adams 12, a neighboring district, because “Jeffco did not report to the state.”
She also discussed a teacher with 14 years of documented serious misconduct, culminating in sexual relationships with students, and a Creighton Middle School teacher with a two-year arrest warrant who was still placed with children.
“It is a pattern of practice that we’ve uncovered with the help of star professionals, policy experts, PI [a private investigator], and paralegal,” Datko said, pointing to red flags missed by HR that could have protected students.
Superintendent Dorland under fire
Critics, including Julie Tolleson, Chief Legal Counsel for Jeffco Public Schools, the Board of Education and Datko, have pointed to Dorland’s tenure as superintendent the period when these oversight failures persisted. The superintendent is accused of making decisions behind closed doors and failing to communicate adequately with the community, as noted in a May 2025 letter from the Jefferson County Education Association.
The bus driver case: a symbol of system failure
The issue of delayed or nonexistent reporting comes into focus in a bus driver case detailed in the report. Instead of terminating the employee after he sent inappropriate text messages to female students and inviting them on late-night walks, Jefferson School officials initially suggested moving him to a lateral position.
Datko noted, “Jeffco’s initial reaction, based on what we’ve heard from employees and seen in records, was to just move him laterally through different positions… the response should have been, ‘he’s out, get him away from students.’”
She added that his superior eventually pushed for his removal, but only after clashing with the chief of legal, underscoring a deeper resistance within the district.
The ‘trusted adult’ policy under scrutiny
This lack of accountability has fueled Jeffco Kids First’s crusade against the district’s “trusted adult” policy, which allowed private staff-student interactions and has been linked to grooming in multiple cases.
The policy was introduced as part of Jeffco’s changing approach to curriculum and student safety, giving kids a staff member they could turn to for help with personal or mental health concerns. But it came with few rules and empowered staff members to label themselves as “trusted adults” without any vetting or oversight procedures.
From chaos to cover: how policy was exploited
This practice has raised significant concerns. The policy gained attention when students were reportedly encouraged to select their preferred “trusted adults,” a process Datko described as creating “chaos” due to its unstructured nature.
This vulnerability was exploited in cases like Chloe Castro’s, where her role facilitated inappropriate communication, and Leann Kearney’s, where grooming occurred under the guise of support.
Datko shared, “We really broke that open as we dug into the trusted adult issue in the growing and changing curriculum, where they were replacing parents, leading children to talk to trusted adults about sexual topics,” highlighting a shift that Jeffco Kids First argues undermines parental authority and safety.
The policy drew national scrutiny in mid-2023 when George Mumma Jr., a retired police chief, raised red flags at a June Jeffco school board meeting. “We pushed back hard on that issue and forced boundaries on that,” Datko explained, emphasizing the group’s efforts to curb its risks. Victims have chillingly referred to their abusers as “trusted adults” in police affidavits, a detail that has fueled demands for reform.
Parents demand reform and accountability
Jeffco Kids First’s recommendations go beyond adjustments, advocating for a comprehensive overhaul.
The group proposes that all interactions under the “trusted adult” policy occur in visible, supervised settings to prevent isolation that could lead to abuse. The proposal also suggests that all staff members receive continuous training to identify grooming behaviors and maintain professional boundaries to prevent the policy from becoming a loophole for misconduct.
The group recommends removing the “trusted adult” designation unless it comes with strict oversight systems that include scheduled audits and parental alert systems to rebuild trust and maintain accountability.
Datko stressed, “Jeffco needs to tighten up their policies around professional boundies with students,” a stance echoed in the report’s demand for structural changes to safeguard students effectively.
Community roots, growing impact
The group’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Jeffco Kids First, which grew from 30 friends during the pandemic to hundreds of families focused on transparency, played a pivotal role in Kearney’s license revocation after a lengthy battle.
“That family is a Jeffco Kids First family and they came to me just over two and a half years ago… we started uncovering all of the documentation, the homeless paperwork, they found under their daughter’s mattress,” Datko recounted.
The case, which went viral internationally and was covered by Sean Void, led to state intervention after Datko alerted the education commissioner. As noted in a February 2025 Rocky Mountain Voice article, this success shows the group’s growing impact, now representing a community of parents demanding change.
‘Trusted adult’ defended, not defined
In an email from the JeffCo Schools Communications Department, they state, “Jeffco Public Schools does not have a policy regarding trusted adults. We have heard feedback from our community regarding the term ‘trusted adult.’ We are working to better understand how the term is being used across our 138+ schools. Nationally, a ‘trusted adult’ is generally understood as a caring source of support for young people, someone they can turn to for help and guidance and who listens and responds appropriately to their concerns.”
Jeremy Meyer, Director of Communications for the Colorado Department of Education, responded on July 7: “We take all reports involving allegations of educator misconduct seriously, and our team does have a process for investigations into misconduct issues.”
Kirkmeyer calls for new leadership
With many of the 33 cases still shrouded in secrecy and a district accused of protecting rather than punishing offenders, parents and advocates are left questioning Jeffco’s commitment to student safety.
State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, who raised the issue in a May letter to Jefferson County Board of Education President Mary Parker, reiterated her concerns in a statement to RMV:
“There have been no public assurances from the Jefferson County School Board that anything has changed – no transparency, no accountability, and no clear plan to protect students going forward. In the face of ongoing revelations of sexual abuse and misconduct in the district and community outcry, this silence is unacceptable. I am renewing my call for the Board to immediately remove Superintendent Tracy Dorland from her position. Stop playing politics, the safety of students must come first. Jefferson County families deserve better.”
Datko’s work, driven by community support, continues to bring public attention to a crisis—drawing more people to join her call for urgent reform.