Left: Robin Niceta (via Arapahoe County (Colo.) Sheriff’s Office). Right: Aurora City (Colo.) Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky (screengrab via KUSA).
A Colorado social worker accused of calling in a fake child abuse report against a city council member after the local leader criticized her girlfriend has been convicted — and faces even more charges for lying about a cancer diagnosis in an apparent attempt to delay her trial.
Robin Niceta was convicted of a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant and a misdemeanor count of filing a false child abuse report. Niceta, 41, made an anonymous call to the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services alleging that Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky was sexually inappropriate with her children. The accusation launched a yearlong investigation into Jurinsky, who was ultimately completely absolved of any suspicions.
The false report followed an appearance by Jurinsky on a conservative radio show in which she called then-Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson — Niceta’s girlfriend at the time — “trash” in connection with local crime rates, according to Denver ABC affiliate KMGH. Investigators ultimately traced the call back to Niceta.
At trial, which started Monday, Niceta’s lawyers said that Wilson, not Niceta, had placed the call to DHS, but witnesses identified the voice on the line as Niceta’s, KMGH reported. Niceta was convicted the following day.
In an apparent attempt to delay the trial, Niceta allegedly fabricated medical records to support a claim that she had a brain tumor. This led to a temporary determination in March that she was incompetent to stand trial. Niceta’s oncologist, however, couldn’t be found, according to local Fox affiliate KDVR, and Niceta was determined to have provided stock images discovered during a Google search for “gioblastoma.” Niceta, whose lawyers withdrew from the case after realizing they submitted fake medical documents, is facing 10 charges in connection with that claim, and her mother, Janice Dudley, is also charged in connection with the fake cancer claim.
According to Colorado case records, Niceta’s next appearance in that case is scheduled for December.
“The woman is an absolute liar,” Jurinsky told local NBC affiliate KUSA after the verdict. “And I’ve known from day one that she was guilty. So this is amazing. I feel amazing.”
Jurinsky, who was awarded $3 million in a civil lawsuit against Niceta, was unabashedly celebratory in her reaction to the guilty verdict.
“GUILTY!” she wrote in a post on X, the social media website previously known as Twitter. “Taken out in handcuffs.”
Niceta is expected to be sentenced in January and faces up to six years in prison.
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