CENTENNIAL | The sentencing of a former Arapahoe County social worker who was found guilty of falsely accusing an Aurora lawmaker of child sexual abuse last year was rescheduled Friday after the social worker’s attorney became ill.
Over the objections of prosecutors, Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky and the dozens of people who showed up at the Arapahoe County Justice Center in Centennial to support her, the decision on punishment for Robin Niceta was postponed to Feb. 9.
Niceta’s attorney, Michael Root, who called into Friday’s hearing remotely, said he “was getting dressed to go down this morning, and I just had an expl-,” and paused before saying he “had a really bad issue with some health stuff.”
Judge Eric Elliff granted Root’s request to delay the hearing so Niceta could be sentenced with her attorney present.
“It’s part of our Constitutional process,” Elliff said. “I don’t continue these things lightly.”
Prosecutor Daniel Cohen objected to the delay, pointing out the large group who came to the courthouse to support Jurinsky.
Cohen and Jurinsky also told Elliff about an alleged confrontation between Niceta and Jurinsky that occurred prior to the hearing, before journalists entered the courtroom.
According to Cohen, Niceta approached Jurinsky in the aisle of the gallery, got “within an inch” of the councilwoman’s face and locked eyes with Jurinsky in a “very menacing or at least intimidating way.”
“I was standing right there, and I witnessed it,” Cohen told Elliff. “Frankly, it was offensive to me, and I wanted the court to be made aware of that, because Ms. Jurinsky does not deserve that kind of treatment for being the victim in this case.”
Jurinsky told the judge that she believed postponing the case would encourage more provocative behavior by Niceta and later said she interpreted the courtroom incident as Niceta trying to bait her.
“She’s taunting me. She wants me to react,” Jurinsky told journalists after the hearing. “I just can’t react. But I hope that the justice system brings justice on the new court date.”
Once the hearing ended, Jurinsky walked through the gallery and hugged her supporters, who included family members, fellow council members and personal friends.
Niceta did not speak during the hearing. Root told Elliff that he would not weigh in on the alleged confrontation between Niceta and Jurinsky since he did not personally witness it.
The former social worker did not leave the courthouse through the public hallway outside of the courtroom and could not be reached for comment, while her attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In January 2022 — one day after Jurinsky criticized Niceta’s then-girlfriend, Aurora Police Department chief Vanessa Wilson, on a regional talk radio show — Niceta allegedly retaliated against the lawmaker by calling a child abuse hotline and fraudulently reporting that Jurinsky had sexually abused her own son.
Jurinsky was investigated by the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, where Niceta was employed as a caseworker specializing in the handling of child sexual abuse cases.
The councilmember would later tell jurors that the investigation was a humiliating and terrifying ordeal which made her fear losing custody of her young son. Ultimately, the county turned up no evidence to substantiate the report of abuse.
Jurinsky said she became aware of Niceta and the social worker’s association with Wilson and Arapahoe County later that year and told a county commissioner that she believed Niceta was behind the false allegations.
A county human services manager subsequently discovered that the number behind the hotline call belonged to Niceta’s personal cellphone, and law enforcement officers who seized Niceta’s cellphones and laptop found a trove of digital evidence implicating her in the January call.
Niceta was criminally charged for her actions in May 2022, and in November 2023, an Arapahoe County jury found her guilty of attempting to influence a public servant and making a false report of child abuse after a two-day trial.
Niceta and her mother were also indicted last year for what law enforcement officers and prosecutors have described as an elaborate scheme to avoid accountability for the hotline call by trying to convince the court that Niceta was suffering from brain cancer.
The ex-social worker has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of forgery, attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy, tampering with physical evidence and criminal impersonation in connection with that case.
Also on Friday, Elliff scheduled Niceta’s trial on those charges to begin April 29.
What happened to Danielle Jurinsky was wrong. However it’s too bad this experience didn’t make her more kind , honest and compassionate in the way she treats others. She flaunts the laws and pushes the boundaries of her own role consistently.
Dumb statement. Now explain exactly how she has done any of that?