Mother describes troubling interactions with now-discredited child custody investigator

DENVER — A woman who ended up in a child custody case several years ago was troubled by the actions of the court-appointed investigator – and shocked when a grand jury indicted her on 15 felonies, including falsifying her academic credentials.

That mother, who went into the child-custody process without hiring an attorney, said Thursday that she first felt something wasn’t right during her initial conversation with the investigator.

“Her first comment was, um, ‘So you’re going without representation?’” the woman said. “I said, ‘Yes,’ and she says, ‘Well, you’re brave – good luck. And that was the start of the nightmare and it just continued to get worse.”

The woman spoke to 9NEWS Investigates on the condition that she not be identified because she fears retaliation.

The now-discredited investigator, Shannon McShane, had been licensed in Colorado as both a psychology and an addiction counselor. She’d worked in the state hospital, prison system and courts.

As a child family investigator, it was her job to spend time with parents and their kids and issue recommendations on who should have custody.

After a parent involved in one of her cases grew suspicious, he began looking into her background and discovered that her claim of holding a PhD from a college in the United Kingdom wasn’t true.

His complaint – and concerns voiced by others, led to an investigation by the Department of Regulatory Agencies. In June 2023, the state stripped her of her licenses.

Now a statewide grand jury has indicted her on eight counts of attempting to influence a public official, five counts of forgery, and charges of perjury and retaliating against a witness or victim.

After that initial meeting, the mother described other troubling incidents.

For instance, the woman said a judge issued an order requiring the state to pay for her child custody assessment.

“I got approved for state pay,” she said. “She was calling me multiple times, e-mailing me multiple times telling me to pay this fee that was due for her services.”

Then there was the day that McShane called her to arrange a meeting so she could observe the woman’s interactions with her child. McShane told her that the child’s father would also be there – something that shocked her.

“When I voiced my concerns about that, she says, ‘Well, that’s how it’s gonna be – I’ve made an executive decision,” the woman said.

When the woman arrived at the park, McShane’s son was with her.

“Very unethical,” the woman said. “And that rubbed me – everything just kept rubbing me the wrong way. You know, I was being told by um lawyers and stuff like that. That, that’s unheard of.”