Colorado parent uncovers child custody expert's fake credentials, triggers investigation, arrest
A Colorado woman who worked as a child and family investigator and parental evaluator in child custody cases throughout the state was recently indicted by a grand jury on charges she used false credentials to obtain her state license.
The Colorado Attorney General's Office filed the 15-count indictment against Shannon McShane on Aug. 29. The charges -- forgery, perjury, attempt to influence a public servant and retaliation against a witness -- are all felonies.
The state may never have discovered McShane's alleged fraud if not for the detective work of an anonymous parent.
McShane, 57, of Monument, obtained a state license as a psychologist in 2017. In addition to child custody cases, she worked as a certified and state-licensed addiction counselor.
McShane testified under oath in Colorado court cases that she earned PhD in Psychology from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. She stated the same on employment applications for employment with the Colorado Department of Corrections and the Colorado Department of Human Services.
The anonymous parent, a father involved in an Arapahoe County child custody case being evaluated by McShane, contacted the University of Hertfordshire directly, according to the indictment. The father began investigating McShane's background after McShane first interviewed him as part of his then-wife's divorce case.
"Ms. MCSHANE's PhD is not verifiable," the father wrote in a complaint he filed with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) in February 2023. "She says she got her PhD in Psychology in 2017, however this not possible as she was also in Texas during this time. She studied for her master's after 2017 at Texas State University" as stated in the indictment.
Note: The father is identified in the indictment. CBS News Colorado is not publishing his identity in light of his concerns of possible retaliation from McShane and possible loss of employment, both worries which he expressed to DORA investigators and state prosecutors.
Later, the father shared with DORA an email exchange he had with Roxanne Garara, the Associate Director of Academic Services at the University of Hertfordshire. On March 7, 2023, Garara sent him an email that stated in part, "I can confirm that the University has no record of any student with the name Shannon MCSHANE," as stated in the indictment.
During this time, McShane allegedly contacted the father's employer - despite the anonymously filed complaint. The indictment does not elaborate on how McShane obtained the father's personal information. But it does describe how McShane complained to the father's employer about the father "cyberstalking" her on company time.
In defending herself, McShane went so far as to send her copy of a "Doctor of Philosophy degree in Clinical Psychology" allegedly awarded in 2017 to Brian D. Boatright, then the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. DORA investigators forwarded the document to the University of Hertfordshire for verification.
The university's Garara replied that the document was fraudulent.
Meanwhile, the state was already investigating a complaint against McShane filed by a judge in Morgan County in 2022.
The judge, presiding over a protection order hearing in which McShane was an expert witness, "recalled that she had authored a strong report in favor of one party over the other," the indictment reads. The judge "stated it was probably the most one-sided report he had seen. ... (The judge) had deep concern for her credibility. He found that the report and testimony were so lopsided that he had McShane removed from the roster of eligible CFIs (Child and Family Investigators) in the 13th Judicial District."
DORA suspended McShane in June 2023. A DORA spokesperson confirmed for CBS News Colorado that McShane permanently relinquished all her state licenses the following month.
McShane was jailed within a week of the grand jury's criminal indictment. She posted a $50,000 bond on Oct. 2, the day after the attorney general's office distributed a press release about the case.
"Defrauding the state of Colorado and engaging in unlicensed practice as a psychologist in a manner that impacts our justice system is a grave breach of public trust," Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser stated in the press release. "In this case, we are seeking to hold Shannon McShane accountable for her alleged conduct and to send a message that this behavior is intolerable."
Asked by CBS News Colorado if McShane's alleged misconduct affects the outcome of any past or current court cases, a spokesperson with the State Court Administrator's Office declined to comment.