A former Denver child protection worker accused of falsifying records in the case of a 2-month-old girl who was fatally beaten pleaded guilty in the case and has been sentenced.
Rotchana Madera, 27, was sentenced to two years of supervised deferred judgment and a concurrent sentence of two years of supervised probation.
Madera pleaded guilty to a felony charge of forgery and official misconduct.
Denver prosecutors Wednesday said Madera’s plea was made last week.
“Madera, while employed by Denver Human Services, entered false information into the official case tracking system about her work on an assigned case,” prosecutors said in a news release.
Denver Human Services requested an investigation after Kelsy Newell-Skinner’s 2-month-old daughter, Natalee Skinner-Hurst, was admitted to the hospital with skull fractures in July and later died.
Natalie tested positive for marijuana when she was born. Investigators say Madera lied about visits with Natalee. The former caseworker had roughly twice as many cases as co-workers when she was assigned to the family’s case.
About three weeks before Natalie was beaten, Madera recommended a child abuse investigation into the family — which included four other children under 5 years old — be closed.
Madera quit her job after roughly a year at Denver Human Services the day the toddler died.
Authorities say a criminal case against Newell-Skinner, 22, is still pending. She is being held at Denver’s county jail without bond on suspicion of charges that include first-degree murder.
Natalee died four days after being admitted to a hospital with multiple skull fractures, broken ribs, severe bruising, bite marks on her thigh and brain damage.
Newell-Skinner is next due in court June 25.
