FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Former Larimer County child welfare caseworker Sandra Spraker was arrested on nearly 100 criminal charges Friday. She's accused of falsifying documents and submitting fraudulent reimbursement requests.
"Especially when you have an obligation to the community to check in on the welfare of kids and things like that, absolutely it's concerning," said Sheriff John Feyen, Larimer County Sheriff's Office .
Spraker, 45, was hired by the Larimer County Department of Human Services (DHS) in April of 2022. She started working as a caseworker that October after completing her training.
Feyen said earlier this year, when DHS was looking into performance concerns with Spraker's work, they noticed something else was off, finding falsified case reports and requests to reimburse travel for visiting families on trips that never happened.
So they contacted the sheriff's office.
"And as we began to look into that and talking with those families, and we've talked to all 10 of the families. Come to find out, she hadn't visited with them at the times and places where she said she did or she hadn't visited with them at all. There was one specific family that had no idea that she was their assigned DHS caseworker because she had never reached out to them," Sheriff Feyen said.
On Friday, Spraker was arrested.
The sheriff's office said a warrant was issued in late December that included 99 charges:
- Attempt to influence a public servant – 10 felony counts
- Forgery – government issued document – 29 felony counts
- Embezzlement of public property – 1 felony count
- First-Degree official misconduct – 29 misdemeanor counts
- Abuse of public records – 29 misdemeanor counts
- Theft – 1 count (petty offense)
"It got to be a habit at least with some families documenting things that never really happened," Feyen said.
In a statement to 9NEWS, Heather O'Hayre, Director of Larimer County Human Services said, “We are proud of the internal processes and procedures we have in place to review the work of our caseworkers. This unfortunate case was found due to these internal processes and the hard work of our managers in Human Services. We have over 150 caseworkers working diligently to serve families in Larimer County, and this is the first case of its kind in Larimer County Human Services. We are continuing to tighten our processes and procedures to make sure this does not happen again."
Over the years, Feyen said he's seen DHS workers work tirelessly to help protect children and families.
He said Spraker's alleged actions are more than frustrating, they betrayed the trust of a team that does so much good.
"So this is a tragic and unfortunate isolated incident amongst a bunch of professionals who have a passion for what they do," Feyen said.
Spraker was placed on administrative leave from DHS in September. She resigned a week later.
Spraker was arrested and booked into the Larimer County Jail on Friday and issued a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. She is due in court on Jan. 9.
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