BURLINGTON — A Colchester man accused of making threats against Department of Children and Families workers has pleaded not guilty. His case highlights ongoing concerns about state worker safety following the murder of a DCF social worker in August.
Joshua Senna, 34, was arrested last Thursday by Williston Police and faces disorderly conduct charges for making threats of physical harm. He is being held at the Northwestern Correctional facility for lack of $5,000 bail, and is due back in court Tuesday for a hearing on his request for new counsel. Senna is currently being represented by attorney Jasdeep Panu.
Senna’s alleged threats elicited a strong response from law enforcement and the state last week. DCF workers were sent home early Thursday, and police provided additional security. The Williston Enrichment Center, a daycare located next to the offices, went into a “modified shut down” as well, according to court documents.
State employee safety has become a renewed priority following the August killing of social worker Lara Sobel outside state offices in Barre, and state officials have reported a spike in threats against DCF workers since then, including a St. Johnsbury man arrested after making threatening posts about DCF on social media.
Law enforcement saw Senna irate and cursing unintelligibly Thursday morning as he left the Costello Courthouse on Cherry Street. He later told a Williston detective that he thought he had a family court date that morning, but the date was changed or he had it wrong.
That sent Senna into a rage, and he reportedly made calls to the Judicial Board to complain about the judge in his case and to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office, blaming the the governor for not helping him, according to the affidavit. The governor’s office told the Burlington Free Press they reported Senna’s calls to State Police.
In text messages to the mother of his children, Senna made threats against a social worker involved in his case as well as her supervisor.
The texts read in part that Senna was “coming for them” and the DCF workers should “just forget Xmas, there not going 2 make it,” and that “this will be an Xmas all Vermonters will remember, I’m going out in style, everybody in USA will now my name.”
Senna had previously made threats against the same DCF employees on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, according to court documents. He faces another disorderly conduct charge in a case stemming from those incidents that is proceeding separately from the new charges.
In that incident he reportedly aimed a racial slur at the DCF supervisor saying “Have fun, your time is almost up (n-word)” during a phone conversation, according to an affidavit filed in that case.
After his arrest Thursday, Senna told Williston Police Detective William Charbonneau, “I know it was wrong but that place is corrupt. They have nothing on me and they took away my kids,” he said, according to a court document.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to remove a racist slur from a quote to be in line with VTDigger’s current editorial standards.
