Ex-social worker faked brain cancer to dodge justice after counselor molested toddler: victim

A former Colorado social worker faked brain cancer in a bid to dodge prosecution after fabricating a story accusing a councilwoman of molesting her own 2-year-old son, officials said.

Robin Niceta, who worked for the Arapahoe County Department of Social Services, allegedly made the false claim because she was ticked off by Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky’s criticism of his then-girlfriend, Aurora’s police chief.

After being criminally charged, Niceta allegedly falsified medical records and even “drooled” over herself during a legal Zoom call to sell the ruse that she was terminally ill, Jurinsky told Fox News Digital.

“[Niceta has been] lying and manipulating and abusing his power for years and years and years,” Jurinsky said. “And she thought she had found a way to get through” her trial as well, she added.

Niceta gained local and national attention a year ago this month when an arrest warrant was issued for her after she called an anonymous hotline to report Jurinsky. The sheriff’s office later cleared the councilwoman of any wrongdoing.

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Niceta pleaded not guilty in December to a criminal charge of attempting to influence a public official and a misdemeanor for making a false report of child abuse due to brain cancer. Then Niceta’s lawyers filed a motion saying she could not stand trial because of cancer.

But in another bizarre twist to the case, prosecutors argued that the cancer diagnosis was a lie. Niceta used Google images of glioblastoma to impersonate her own condition, then forged documents showing she attended an oncology clinic and saw a doctor in New Mexico, prosecutors said.

“She was on Zoom drooling over herself. I mean, the works,” Jurinsky said, noting that Niceta’s family claimed the woman was non-verbal due to her reported cancer.

Lawyers for the former social worker withdrew from the case as the charade fell apart. Niceta’s new attorney told the court his client was now fit to stand trial.

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This news relieved Jurinsky, who said she briefly worried that the ruse could allow Niceta to escape justice. Jurinsky “lost her mind” and confronted members of the media at the courthouse over Niceta’s cancer allegations, she said.

“I walked out into the hallway. I knew all the media was out there. I couldn’t get the prosecutor to listen to me, I couldn’t get anyone to listen to me,” he said. Jurinsky said. “I walked out in front of the cameras and said, ‘This woman is lying. This woman is lying.'”

Following Jurinsky’s comments to the media, CBS News Colorado reached out to Niceta’s mother, who lives in New Mexico, and received copies of Niceta’s medical records, which ostensibly showed two brain tumors.

“People shouldn’t talk if they don’t know what they’re talking about in the first place,” Niceta’s mother, Janice Dudley, told the outlet. “That’s what’s happening right now… there’s nothing made up.” The new report noted that Niceta appeared in the Zoom interview and “waved weakly once” but “did not speak and appeared to be in a daze.”

The article was published in late April and was followed by “hundreds” of doctors across the country who commented on a Reddit thread about the medical documents, arguing they were fake, Jurinsky said.

Prosecutors moved to try to verify the medical documents and found “significant concerns that the medical records provided by Ms. Niceta to defense counsel (and to the people and to this Court) are fabricated”, according to court records obtained by Denver 7.

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Danielle Jurinski (City of Aurora)

Prosecutors found no record of the doctor who allegedly signed the medical records and could not even verify the existence, address or phone number of the oncology clinic, according to court records.

And “the MRI images provided by Ms. Niceta are stock images of glioblastoma found with a basic Google image search of the word ‘glioblastoma,'” the court document continues.

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After Niceta’s medical records were dismissed by the court, Jurinsky said she felt “vindicated” and would continue her battle, which began in January 2022.

Inside a courtroom with gavel in view. (Stock)

Jurinsky’s ordeal began on January 27 of that year, when she went on a radio show to denounce then-Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson, describing the best cop in town as a ” trash” which had to be removed.

Jurinsky, a staunch police supporter, said in the interview that Aurora was “not safe,” citing dozens of shootings this month, a shortage of police personnel and a police chief who allegedly threw “policemen under the bus”.

At the time, she didn’t know who Niceta was, let alone that the former social worker was dating the police chief at the time. Niceta and Wilson have since broken up, with Wilson telling Fox News Digital last year that he wanted nothing to do with the former social worker.

Jurinsky told Fox News Digital last year that she believed Niceta filed the bogus report in retaliation for her critical comments about Wilson.

Arapahoe County CentrePoint Plaza where the Arapahoe County Department of Social Services is located. (Google Maps)

When news of Niceta’s arrest broke in May last year, other families began to say they would have faced similar false allegations from the social worker, leading to triggered a class action lawsuit.

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The lawsuit, filed last year, argued that through the activities and conduct of the defendants, “dozens, if not hundreds (or more) of families in Arapahoe County have been torn apart, sometimes permanently , on the basis of constitutionally improper investigations”.

Niceta was accused of making sexual advances to women she was actively investigating in her role as a social worker and of trying to separate children from those women’s families if her advances were turned down, according to the lawsuit.

Jurinsky told Fox News Digital that her personal struggle was only one piece of the puzzle, explaining that families across the country have reached out to her to deal with similar cases of alleged false reports of abuse.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is pictured in Washington on July 13, 2020. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)

“[Niceta] is exceptionally crazy, but it’s a systemic problem with DHS,” Jurinsky said, noting that she “hasn’t lost” why she wants justice when other families only find themselves at dead ends. .

“I am a civil servant,” she said. “If I hadn’t been an elected official, if I hadn’t had a medium to talk to and get my message across, I can promise you within the DHS system, there’s no amount of money that will save you from losing your child.”

Jurinsky said she is in this fight because other families have actually lost their children while the parents are helpless to get them back.

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As a public servant, Jurinsky used his platform to support state-level bills that would make legislative changes to the Colorado Department of Human Services. In February, Jurinsky testified in support of House Bill 1142 — which she calls “Bradley’s Bill” in a nod to her son — which would require people giving advice on child abuse allegations to provide contact information, putting an end to anonymous advice.

“I’m hopeful that I will get justice and put an end to my situation,” she said. “But that doesn’t end the fight for me. The fight isn’t over.”

Niceta’s new attorney, Frank Moya, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the case and updates.

Niceta’s trial is scheduled to begin on August 1.