ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A jury on Tuesday afternoon convicted a former Arapahoe County social worker accused of making up a child abuse claim against an Aurora City Council member in an act of retaliation.
Robin Niceta was found guilty of both charges she faced: attempt to influence a public servant and false reporting of child abuse. She's set for sentencing at 11 a.m. on Jan. 19 and faces up to six years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Her arrest in 2022 came after an anonymous phone tip called into the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services suggested that Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky might have sexually abused her young son. Caseworkers investigated and found that Jurinsky did nothing wrong and closed the case.
Court documents show the anonymous call was traced to Niceta, who at the time was dating the now-former Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. Niceta was accused of making the call the day after Jurinsky criticized Wilson while speaking on a podcast, calling her “trash,” according to court documents.
On Monday, the jury heard the audio recording of that call. In it, the caller claimed to have witnessed Jurinsky abusing her son in the bathroom of a restaurant that Jurinsky owned.
During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutors pointed to an electronic trail of evidence they said tied Niceta to the crime. They told jurors that the call was made from Niceta's own cellphone and that searches were done on her work computer, which required a two-factor authentication to log on.
Niceta's attorney told jurors they could not convict Niceta – unless prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the voice in the phone call was her.
He pointed out that only one person testified that it was Niceta in the recording but said that person initially wasn't sure whether it was her and had to listen to it many times before coming to the conclusion that it was Niceta.
The defense attorney also suggested that it could have been Wilson who made the call and suggested it was she – and not Niceta – who had the motive to make the complaint.
Niceta had been free on a personal recognizance bond, but given her conviction, the judge said that was no longer sufficient. He ordered her to be taken into custody and held on a $10,000 cash or surety bond.
Deputies then handcuffed Niceta, and she was taken into custody to be booked in the detention center.
Outside of court, Jurinksy expressed satisfaction about the verdict and called for Niceta to be sentenced to the full six years that could be applied to her sentencing, which is set for January.
"The woman is an absolute liar. And I've known from day one that she was guilty. So this is amazing. I feel amazing," Jurinsky told reporters.
Jurinsky added that someone never should involve children if they have a disagreement with someone.
In March of this year, as the case made its way through the court system, attorneys for Niceta filed a motion seeking to delay her trial. A second motion sought an evaluation of whether she was incompetent because she was terminally ill.
The motions also included medical records that appeared to indicate that Niceta was being treated for a brain tumor.
Prosecutors said they could not verify the records and found that an IP address belonging to Niceta and her mother was used to create the Facebook pages of New Mexico Oncology Associates and Carey Marquez, the doctor who purportedly diagnosed the brain tumor.
In July, Niceta was indicted on 10 additional charges related to the fabrication of those medical records. She has a hearing in that case on Dec. 1. Her mother is also charged in the case.
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