A Colorado family investigator and parental evaluator was sentenced on June 23 to four years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, retaliation against a victim or witness, and perjury. Shannon McShane falsified her credentials en route to obtaining a Colorado license in 2017. McShane worked as an investigator, evaluator, and counselor in child custody cases, including cases in Boulder and Weld counties.
McShane submitted false disclosures to courts in Boulder, Weld, Adams, Arapahoe, and Denver counties and influenced the final outcomes of domestic relations cases, according to the indictment. Around September 7, 2022, McShane submitted false information to the Boulder County Combined Court in an attempt to influence a public servant.
An anonymous parent investigated McShane’s credentials in 2023 after she interviewed him as part of a divorce and custody case with his wife. The man sent a complaint to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) in February 2023 claiming that McShane’s PhD in Psychology is not verifiable. The man shared an email exchange with Roxanne Garara, the associate director of academic services at the University of Hertfordshire, who confirmed there was no record of any student with the name Shannon McShane.
McShane allegedly contacted the man’s employer and accused the man of cyberstalking her as a form of retaliation. The report by the man was anonymous and it is unknown how McShane learned that he was the man who submitted the complaint to DORA.
McShane falsely obtained licensure as a psychologist, certified addiction counselor and licensed addiction counselor, according to an April press release from the office of Attorney General Phil Weiser. She provided recommendations to the courts regarding parenting time and decision-making for children. She also worked at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo as an employee for the Colorado Department of Corrections and the Colorado Department of Human Services.
“We take fraud—and efforts to undermine the integrity of our judicial process—seriously,” stated Weiser after the April plea agreement. “The defendant’s actions created real harm, and this plea agreement holds her accountable.” McShane is serving two years for each felony, served consecutively for a total of four years. She also received a one year sentence for the misdemeanor of perjury, but that will be served concurrently.
