A former Colorado parental evaluator who sent more than 20 child custody cases into chaos amid accusations that she lied about holding a doctorate in psychology pleaded guilty on Friday to two felonies and a misdemeanor.

Attorney General Phil Weiser announced in a press release that Shannon McShane, 57, pleaded guilty to one count each of retaliation against a victim or witness and an attempt to influence a public servant, both Class 4 felonies, as well as one count of misdemeanor perjury.

The felonies carry a maximum penalty of up to six years in prison, and Weiser said the plea agreement allows the judge to impose any lawful sentence, including potential  time in state prison in Colorado. Her sentencing was scheduled for June 23.

“The defendant’s actions created real harm, and this plea agreement holds her accountable,” Weiser said in a prepared statement.

A grand jury in August handed up a 15-count indictment against McShane that charged her with falsely representing to state agencies and judges and magistrates overseeing custody disputes that she had a doctorate in psychology from the University of Hertfordshire in England. She used her faked doctorate to obtain Colorado licensure as a psychologist, certified addiction counselor and licensed addiction counselor, the grand jury found.

She used those licenses to gain employment as a court-appointed parental evaluator making custody recommendations in high-conflict divorces and custody disputes. She also gained employment with the Colorado Department of Corrections and at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.

McShane is one of three parental evaluators now barred by the Colorado Court Administrator’s Office from accepting court appointments to make custody recommendations in the wake of investigative reports into the evaluation industry by The Gazette. State lawmakers also have moved to place new regulations and training requirements on the parental evaluation industry in Colorado following investigations by The Gazette that found evaluation reports marred by bias, incompetence and shoddy work that at times put children in deadly peril.

Investigators with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation of McShane following disclosures about her disputed parental evaluation work by The Gazette.

The indictment stated that one father, Chad Kullhem, who reported McShane to state regulators, faced retaliation from McShane. McShane contacted Kullhem’s employer in February 2023 and falsely accused him of “cyber-stalking” her and wanted his employer “to determine if his actions on company time constitute a violation,” the indictment alleged.

Kullhem told investigators he feared he could lose his job over her fraudulent accusations.

The indictment also charged that McShane wrote a letter to then-Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court Brian Boatright falsely accusing Kullhem of producing “a multitude of questionable documents” during his custody dispute.

McShane also further falsely claimed in March 2023 on an attorney listserv that Kullhem showed up at her house and he had created a “cache of false” documents, according to the indictment. Investigators could find no evidence she had ever reported the incident to law enforcement.

Dozens of parents have claimed that McShane, who relinquished her license to practice psychology in 2023, sent their custody cases into chaos through her unqualified reports.

Magistrate Matthew Bradley of the 13th Judicial District barred McShane from conducting custody evaluations in six counties in northeast Colorado because he found her custody evaluation in one case so biased and deficient that he deemed McShane unfit to do such work.

Despite Bradley warning state court administrators that he found McShane’s parental evaluation work marred with bias and innuendo, those court administrators continued to permit McShane to accept court appointments in other judicial districts throughout the state. McShane surrendered her state licenses to work as a psychologist and addiction counselor in July 2023. Licensing boards for those professions had suspended her licenses in June 2023.

The state court administrator’s office did not bar McShane from accepting court appointments for more than four months after the magistrate alerted them to his concerns.

The magistrate ruled in one custody dispute that McShane had fixated on the nickname “Sleepy Melo” for the father as perhaps a sign that a father was a dangerous gang member. The magistrate found that father was not a gang member and was instead a loving protective father.