Family of Robin Niceta releases MRI images, medical records indicating cancerous brain tumor
NOTE -- A follow up to this story to clarify these MRI images and why they appear the way they do:
The medical professional who oversaw the administration of the MRI told the family of Robin Niceta that some public confusion may have arisen because Niceta has two tumors in her brain, not one. One is on the temporal lobe and the other midline. The explanation given to the family is that images are initially produced in digital form, but are then essentially screenshotted and copied on to a document that is sent to patients and their families. During that process, certain portions of the MRI are removed or blurred to avoid confusion for people not familiar with MRIs. For these specific MRI images, administrators told the Niceta family they also removed some of the necrosis (dead cells) around the tumors to help show the size and scope of the tumors. Then they accentuated/highlighted the tumors so it was easier for non-medical professionals to see.
Robin Niceta, the former Arapahoe County social worker criminally charged with making a false child abuse report against an Aurora city council member, is being treated for a cancerous brain tumor according to MRI images and medical records released this month by the Niceta family.
"It's just bad right now," said Niceta's mother, Janice Dudley, who spoke to CBS News Colorado via a Zoom interview from her home in New Mexico. Although Niceta appeared on camera for the interview, she did not speak and appeared to be in a stupor.
"This is what's going on right now," said her mother. "There's nothing made up. She is in her own world right now."
Niceta was the former intimate partner of Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. In 2022, after Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky went on a radio show and called Wilson "trash," Niceta is alleged to have anonymously filed a child abuse report against Jurinsky the next day, apparently as retaliation for the harsh words about Wilson.
The report accused Jurinsky of sexually abusing her nearly three-year-old son. But law enforcement authorities traced the anonymous call to Niceta and she was charged with two criminal counts, including filing a false child abuse report. Authorities determined the child abuse reports against Jurinsky were made up. Niceta has pleaded not guilty to the criminal action.
As Niceta's false reporting case moves toward trial, Niceta's lawyer appeared in court last month telling a judge about Niceta's medical condition and that it may jeopardize the criminal proceeding, with Niceta unable to stand trial. Niceta's attorney said her client might be incompetent to stand trial due to her medical diagnosis.
"I think this is completely made up," said Jurinsky last month, as she questioned the medical diagnosis that was discussed in court.
But Niceta's mother, Janice Dudley, provided CBS News Colorado with 16 pages of medical records along with images from a recent MRI which showed a significant tumor in Niceta's brain. The medical records, from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where Niceta has been undergoing treatment, state Niceta is suffering from a "malignant neoplasm of the brain" and Glioblastoma, an aggressive cancerous tumor. The records confirm a traumatic brain injury and seizure disorder along with numerous medications prescribed for Niceta. Niceta's mother said her daughter had undergone chemotherapy and other treatments and was recently accepted into a medical trial to try to treat the brain tumor.
"People shouldn't talk if they don't know what they're talking about in the first place," said Dudley. "This is what going on right now... there's nothing made up".
But when shown the medical records and MRI images, Jurinsky was unmoved.
"No, I'm not convinced," said Jurinsky. "I don't trust Robin Niceta at all. There's zero chance that I believe anything that comes from her. My position stands."
She noted the electronic medical records had no signatures and were not notarized.
Jurinsky went on to say she would only believe Niceta was in medical jeopardy if the former social worker was examined by an independent physician.
"Her family is doing everything they can to keep their daughter out of prison and will go to any lengths and stop at nothing. I think Robin is a master manipulator," said Jurinsky.
She said if Niceta did have a brain tumor that would be "karma."
"I want justice. If she's not lying on her deathbed, lets go to court," said Jurinsky. "I want justice more than I want her dead."
Although Niceta was scheduled to stand trial in May, those proceedings have been postponed.
During the Zoom interview with CBS News Colorado, Niceta waved weakly one time, but that was the extent of her communication.
Earlier this year, a judge ordered Niceta to pay Jurinsky $3 million after Jurinsky sued Niceta for slander, libel and outrageous conduct. Niceta failed to appear in court for any of the civil proceedings and Arapahoe County Judge Elizabeth Beebe Volz entered a default judgment against Niceta. Volz ruled Jurinsky suffered harm to her reputation, humiliation and emotional distress. The judge wrote that Niceta's conduct "was willful and wanton and done with actual malice. Further, the Court finds that the conduct was especially egregious since it was done by a person tasked with protecting children and knew full well that her false report would result in an investigation and potential separation of a young vulnerable child and a parent, with unknown potential harm to that child. This award is made, in part, 'to send a message that this kind of conduct cannot and should not be tolerated by anybody,'" wrote Volz.
Dudley said her daughter's medical condition prevented either her or her daughter from responding to that civil case.
