The partner of former Aurora police Chief Vanessa Wilson called in a false tip that an Aurora City Council member critical of Wilson was abusing her child, according to an Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office warrant for the partner’s arrest.
Wilson’s partner, Robin Niceta, called a child abuse hotline on Jan. 28 and reported that months earlier she witnessed Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky inappropriately touch Jurinsky’s child, the arrest affidavit shows.
The report kicked off an investigation into Jurinsky by the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services, the same agency where Niceta worked.
When the human services investigation found no wrongdoing against Jurinsky, the investigation turned to finding out who made the false report.
Investigators with the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office traced the hotline call to a phone number registered to Niceta, whom they identified as Wilson’s partner. Niceta in an interview with investigators denied that she knew anything about the call, but a search of her phone records showed earlier in the day she tried to call her own work number using *67 — the phone code that prevents the recipient of a call to see the number calling.
The phone records also show that Niceta texted someone at 7 p.m. that night — two hours after the abuse report was made — saying she had received a case about a councilwoman sexually abusing her child. Another employee at the Department of Human Services told investigators it was impossible Niceta would know about a hotline report two hours after it was made.
A search of Niceta’s laptop also found that someone searched “Danielle Jurinsky Address” and “child abuse and neglect reporting hotline” about five minutes before the abuse report was made on Jan. 28, according to the arrest affidavit.
Jurinsky told investigators that she believed the tip was retribution for comments critical of Wilson that she made Jan. 27 during a talk radio show, including calling the chief “trash.”
Niceta did not immediately respond to a call for comment Monday.
Jurinsky on Monday told The Denver Post through tears that when she heard the news about the charges, she felt relief and wants to seek justice.
The allegations were made about Jurinsky on Jan. 28, the same day Councilman Juan Marcano asked to censure Jurinsky for her comments about Wilson on the radio show.
The councilwoman said she didn’t care about the censure because she was dealing with the sexual abuse allegations at the time — what she called the longest 15 days of her life.
“I mean, I couldn’t even breathe when this caseworker called me,” she said. “My mind went blank and I couldn’t breathe literally.”
Jurinsky said it was awful for her family. She couldn’t even look at her 2-year-old son without crying.
“You don’t make allegations as heinous as this without the intent of taking my child from me,” she said.
Jurinsky will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. to discuss the case.
The arrest warrant shows Niceta is wanted on suspicion of retaliation against an elected official.
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