The Colorado Department of Human Services is looking into potential fraud and child safety concerns following allegations made against former Arapahoe County DHS employee Robin Niceta.
Niceta, 40, is the former partner of former Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. She was charged in May after she allegedly made a false child abuse report regarding Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky. She resigned from her position as a social worker and case manager with Arapahoe County on May 4 with a brief letter that read: "Please take this email as my immediate resignation from Arapahoe County. I appreciate the last 5 years and I wish you both the very best."
This month, Niceta and the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services were named in a class action lawsuit and federal complaint.
Jurinsky is the plaintiff in the class action lawsuit, which also names ACDHS division manager Michelle Dossey and the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners. The exact size of the class is unknown, but is estimated to feature more than 40 people, according to court documents.
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday, focuses on the alleged separation or attempted separation of children from their parents or caregivers by ACDHS.
Court documents allege that ACDHS "failed to conduct adequate, thorough and constitutional investigations of child abuse and neglect complaints." The department is accused of altering witness statements, ignoring experts' findings and silencing those who spoke out against the separation or attempted separation.
During her time at ACDHS, Niceta would allegedly request to be assigned to cases in which she had a personal interest and access open investigations that weren't assigned to her, according to the lawsuit. She is also accused in the lawsuit of introducing false testimony into judicial proceedings.
The lawsuit alleges that Niceta would look to "engage in sexual relations with parents and caretakers she was actively investigating, including by offering alcoholic beverages at her personal home and giving away her personal cell phone number." If the parents or caretakers refused Niceta's sexual advances, she would then allegedly work to remove their children from their care, the lawsuit claims.
The federal complaint was filed on Aug. 14 by the parents of a teen girl who was removed from her home for a year in Aug. 2020. It names Niceta, Arapahoe County DHS, two ACDHS caseworkers, an ACDHS supervisor, ACDHS director Cheryl Ternes and the Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners.
The girl began her freshman year of high school in fall 2019. She is hearing impaired and was assigned a team of ASL interpreters, who rotated with fellow hearing-impaired students, the complaint says.
Court documents state the girl befriended one of the interpreters — a 49-year-old woman — and the two exchanged personal phone numbers, which was allowed for school-related questions.
The questions initially focused on school, but soon they focused on the girl, who is Muslim and wears a hijab, and her home life, according to the complaint. The girl told the interpreter about her uncle and his older son, who was 20 at the time, according to the filing.
One day, the interpreter allegedly witnessed an ASL conversation between the girl and a friend, during which the girl complained about her uncle. The interpreter approached the girl and said she had a feeling the girl "had been hurt by someone," the complaint reads. The girl denied the accusation, according to documents.
The interpreter allegedly kept asking the girl if she had been hurt by a family member, specifically her uncle or cousin, and the girl continued to deny the accusations.
When the school switched to online classes in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the interpreter began inviting the girl to meet for picnics and meet-ups in the park, according to court documents. The interpreter allegedly continued to ask if the girl was being hurt by her uncle. She allegedly told the girl that she had been raped as a child, and "if anything similar had happened to [the girl], then she needed to tell someone."
"Eventually, [the girl] told [the interpreter] that she had been raped by her cousin, even though she knew it was not true," the complaint states. "[The interpreter] began to pay closer attention to [the girl] and texted her throughout the summer of 2020."
During that time, the interpreter allegedly began to think the girl was suicidal. The girl allegedly assured the interpreter that she would not harm herself.
In early August 2020, the girl went with her family on a camping trip to Yosemite National Park. The uncle and cousin were on the trip, according to court documents.
The interpreter and girl texted throughout the trip, the complaint states. The interpreter allegedly said she was worried for the girl's safety due to her cousin's presence. The interpreter was also allegedly worried that the girl would attempt suicide, according to the complaint.
During the text message exchange, the girl allegedly told the interpreter that she could not tell her parents about the rape "because she would be stoned, since that is how many Muslims would punish women who disclosed rape allegations," according to court documents.
The interpreter filed a report with Arapahoe County DHS on Aug. 10, 2020. In the report, she stated that the girl was being raped by an older cousin and that she had gotten a secret abortion six weeks prior in Pueblo, according to court filings.
Following an evaluation and meeting, the case was approved to be screened for further assessment by Niceta.
Two police officers and three ACDHS employees, including Niceta, visited the girl's home the morning of Aug. 14, 2020. The two officers and an ACDHS caseworker spoke with the girl's mother inside the home, while Niceta and another caseworker spoke to the girl outside. A warrant was never presented, according to the complaint.
The girl's mother was questioned about their "family life and structure, including detailed questions about where the uncle and the cousin lived," according to court documents. The complaint alleges that the girl's mother was never asked about the rape allegations.
During the girl's conversation with Niceta, she allegedly denied the rape allegations. The court documents allege that Niceta made the decision to remove the girl from the home during the conversation "based on her expert assessment of [the girl] and [her mother's] reactions to the department as being consistent with sexual assault victims."
Niceta allegedly called a judge for verbal authorization to remove the girl from the home. What was stated in the phone call and the court's reasoning were not documented, according to the complaint. A state-required safety and risk assessment was also not conducted with the family, the complaint continues.
The girl was removed from her home and taken to the interpreter's house, the court documents state.
During a court hearing days later, a judge ruled that the girl should remain at the interpreter's house. The girl remained at the interpreter's house for another 11 months, according to court documents.
After the girl's parents completed requirements implemented by the state, the girl was returned home in August 2021, and the case was closed in March 2022, the complaint states.
The complaint alleges the family's Fourth Amendment and 14th Amendment rights were violated during the incident, on top of "emotional pain and suffering" incurred during the girl's removal and absence.
In a statement, the Colorado Department of Human Services said it is "conducting an evaluation of potential fraud and child safety concerns related to activities by a former social caseworker."
Every child has the right to be free from abuse and neglect, and CDHS is committed to ensuring that statewide practice supports child safety above all else. This includes a primary focus on ensuring and enhancing safety within families whenever possible. The child welfare system, including families, communities and staff, comprise the safety net system that protects children and youth and restores safety and stability whenever possible. When concerns about child safety or child welfare practice arise, CDHS takes immediate action to develop and implement a plan to support the relevant county departments of human/social services and, where appropriate, implement any practice changes.
At the request of Arapahoe County Human Services, CDHS is conducting an evaluation of potential fraud and child safety concerns related to activities undertaken by a former social caseworker.
We encourage anyone with concerns about county child welfare practice to submit these to CDHS for evaluation by emailing cdhs_clientservices@state.co.us or calling 1-866-3275. Call 844-CO-4-Kids to report concerns about child abuse and neglect.
Luc Hatlestad, public information officer for Arapahoe County, said the county is "equally appalled and concerned" about the allegations.
Arapahoe County is equally appalled and concerned as our community is about the alleged criminal actions of Robin Niceta, a former employee of our Human Services department.
There are many checks and balances within the child protection system to weed out false allegations. We have confidence in our ability to protect children from abuse and neglect in our County, and at the same time to preserve the rights of parents and guarantee due process. All allegations of abuse and neglect of children are fully evaluated and investigated by multiple layers of human services, educational, medical, mental health, and legal professionals, in accordance with State laws and regulations. When disputes arise during these investigations, all parties have the right to have their case heard by a judge or jury, and also to appeal. There also is a State-prescribed process for reviewing complaints we receive about closed cases, and we act upon the conclusions of those evaluations as needed.
We have not yet had a chance to review all of the allegations in the recently filed complaints but point out that many of them draw conclusions without citing factual specifics. We are not aware of any evidence of widespread misconduct by the caseworkers and other professionals within the Arapahoe County Human Services Department, despite what is alleged in the complaints.
The Colorado Department of Human Services, as the supervising agency of each county department of human services, is investigating, at our request, whether there are potentially other issues of concern in all assessments and cases conducted by Ms. Niceta during her tenure with the County. We are awaiting the results of this independent investigation and will swiftly take any appropriate action after it is completed.
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to note that Niceta is the former partner of Wilson.