Since-fired Jeffco school staff member accused of sexual crimes against student
DENVER (KDVR) — Court records point to a former Jefferson County school staff member’s arrest for sexual contact with a teenage student while she was employed.
According to an arrest affidavit for the staff member obtained by FOX31 on Friday, the staff member had sexual contact with the student for months. A mother of a student in the district told FOX31 that her son was questioned in connection to this case, but she was not aware of the investigation until he told her.
The staff member and suspect was identified as Imagine Ewer, 27, a paraprofessional at Brady Exploration School at the time of the alleged incident. She was arrested in early January on charges of:
Sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust
Sexual exploitation of a child
Unlawful electronic sexual communication
Contributing to the delinquency of a minor
She posted her $25,000 cash-only bond on Feb. 23, according to court records.
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A request for comment from Jeffco Public Schools was not returned on Thursday, but the district issued a letter to staff, families and media on Friday afternoon.
“Ms. Ewer was employed at Brady as a paraprofessional starting in August 2023,” the district said. “She was placed on leave on November 15, 2023 and her employment with Jeffco Public Schools was formally terminated on December 16, 2023. We understand that this matter may take time to resolve. Once the criminal case is completed, we will send you a second letter with the results of the case.”
According to the arrest affidavit, the victim of this case began attending a different school on Dec. 11, 2023.
Also according to the arrest affidavit, Ewer was “chummy” with a boy starting in August 2023. This was after the victim had “got hit in the head a couple of months ago,” according to the affidavit, and began exhibiting unusual behavior, like increased spending.
The victim began to receive special treatment from staff members, who were found to be giving him drinks and snacks meant for staff or keeping his food in the refrigerator. One of the staff members providing these benefits was later identified as Ewer.
“They were the only people he identified as ‘trusted adults,'” the affidavit states.
Multiple colleagues had concerns with suspect
According to the arrest affidavit, investigators learned Ewer had been issued an “Expectation letter” on Oct. 16, 2023, for not following her assigned schedule, engaging with students not on her schedule, handling mental health issues beyond her training, challenging colleagues and “inappropriate self-care during duty days (curling her hair).”
Another colleague told investigators that the ex-paraprofessional looked to be in a “relationship” with the victim, but never saw touching and had no reports of sexual contact between the two.
“She’s overly familiar and friendly with students,” the staff member told investigators, according to the arrest affidavit. “They are predominantly male students.”
Lakewood investigators also obtained a written statement from a coworker of the suspect on Nov. 14, 2023. It detailed how the coworker was collecting papers during an evening class and found inappropriate messages that appeared to be between Ewer and the victim regarding each others’ bodies.
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On Dec. 6, 2023, Lakewood police obtained a search warrant for the suspect and victim’s phones. According to the arrest affidavit, detectives at first were able to call Ewer on the provided phone number, but it was disconnected later that week.
Later that day, the detective spoke to the victim, according to the court document. The victim denied any sexual contact with the staff member. When asked about the notes on his assignment, the student just said he was “embarrassed.”
The department was also able to bring the suspect into their office for an interview, where the suspect additionally denied any sexual contact.
Cell phone review shows illicit conversations
The Lakewood Police Department obtained both the victim’s and the suspect’s phone by Dec. 11, 2023. According to the arrest affidavit, explicit messages between the pair began on Sept. 28, 2023.
The pair would text about sex, smoking marijuana and calling each other “love” and “lover.” Investigators also found Snapchat records that corresponded to certain text requests and found records of the pair spending time at hotels together.
In one conversation dating to Oct. 23, Ewer told the student to “shoot her in the leg.” According to the affidavit, she told the student the next day that someone reported her to Safe2Tell for texting a student.
“We cannot keep our texts PERIOD,” Ewer allegedly texted the student.
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In November, she began talking to the student about taking cocaine.
Texts from November allegedly show Ewer and the victim discussing deleting their texts, un-saving chats in their Snapchat conversations, and confirming their cover story.
“So we’re gonna say that we were working together on the science project. I have been helping you do better on your handwriting so I have been having you trace over mine to practice & that’s what we did for the science packet. I left to cook tacos and you were just daydreaming and wrote it down cause you didn’t think anyone would see and that you can’t believe you didn’t cross if off and are so embarrassed,” Ewer allegedly texted the student.
This case is still under investigation. Ewer was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday but waived her right to that appearance.
Jeffco Public Schools said it is working with the Lakewood Police Department and anyone with information can contact Lakewood Police Detective Boyd at 303-987-7229.
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