Colorado
Colorado dad who uncovered child custody expert’s allegedly fake psychology degree concerned for other families: “It’s heartbreaking”
Having to fight for custody of his children was nightmare enough for Chad Kullhem.
“It was really scary,” he said.
The experience was made worse by the family investigator working on his case.
“I had no way of knowing if anyone would hear me,” he added.
CBS
Shannon McShane was responsible for evaluating Kullhem and his ex-wife and then recommending custody. He says from the beginning something felt off. He filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, also known as DORA.
The agency gave him McShane’s credentials, including the Ph.D. she claimed to have received from a university in London, but the transcript didn’t check out and he went to directly to that university with questions.
“They said ‘Yeah, we don’t have, like …’ she put letter grades on there for her doctorate. They were like ‘We don’t do letter grades for doctorate. We don’t have these programs the way that she did it,’ ” he said. “So that was the evidence I had.”
McShane had used those allegedly fake documents to become a licensed psychologist and addiction counselor in the state of Colorado. It was the key to having her name added to a statewide court roster of qualified family investigators, and it led to jobs with the Colorado Department of Corrections and Colorado Department of Human Services, where she worked at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo hospital for five years.
Denver Police Department
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking that someone can get a doctorate, that someone can get their license, falsify their credentials, get into a powerful position with the court,” Kullhem said.
CBS Colorado asked DORA about their vetting process when someone applies for a professional license.
In a statement a spokesperson said in part, “If someone is educated in the U.S. the division verifies all information with U.S. institutions. In this case, Ms. McShane was educated outside of the United States. When this is the case, all documents go through a third-party equivalency review which deemed them to be substantially equivalent to training at a U.S. accredited institution.”
CBS
CBS Colorado took that same question to both state departments that hired McShane, who say as partnering state agencies, they rely on DORA’s vetting process.
A spokesperson for Corrections added “I can confirm that we verified her credentials in accordance with this process.” And, in a statement, the Department of Human Services said “the hospital completed a primary source verification, which is where the hospital and the Department of Regulatory Agencies confirm licensure as opposed to relying on the candidate providing a copy.”
Eventually, Colorado’s Attorney General launched an investigation, which ended in a 15-count criminal indictment with charges including forgery and attempting to influence a public official.
“She impacted a lot of people,” Kullhem said.
He’s now watching the criminal case closely, but his concern is with other families and warns them to do their research.
“I’m sure there are people out there who are permanently affected by this who don’t have any idea what to do,” he said.
CBS Colorado asked DORA if any changes have been made. A spokesperson said in part: “The Division’s internal process was re-examined after Ms. McShane’s transcripts were called into question. No immediate internal process changes were needed; however, the Division is continuing to examine how it can better ensure the validity of documents approved by outside entities.”
A request for comment from McShane for this story was unanswered. She will return to court in April.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Last November, the City for Champions became the City of Champions. It’s a new year, and the standard is the standard in Colorado Springs.
“We have principles, we have basics, we have a foundation that we want to build off and it’s making sure that even the return on players and the new players and the staff were all aligned with all of that sort of stuff and making sure that we have all that stuff nailed down and then we can start to move forward. If it’s a cast of not putting the horse before the car,” said head coach James Chambers.
“Accept anything else at this point. The staff is worth hard to get guys into our locker room with a lot of character and guys that fit our system, style of play but 1st and foremost are good people. So, when you bring those guys in the locker room and we keep the guys that have been in our locker room. it’s very easy,” Captain Matt Mahoney said.
Colorado Springs hasn’t clicked the first three games, a main reason is self inflicting mistakes..
“Simple mistakes, individual errors at moments and that happens when half the team is new as well. So, we are trying to figure stuff out, that’s how it was in the beginning of last year and not an excuse but we’ve got two more points than we had last year and we are trying to improve,” said Mahoney.
For newcomer Levonte Johnson, a big thing he noticed is actually the elevation advantage.
“Just being in the stadium itself, the elevation. I first came here it was tough to play in. I think that definitely plays a big part in the success here and just teams mentally not even so much physically just mentally coming to try to prepare and play us and just knowing it’s going to be a tough game with our press and trying to impose our will on the other team,” said Johnson.
For every championship programs, once you get a taste of winning, you always want more.
“Winning is addicting. We want to win and so, it’s a mentality. This club is not going to set up just for a championship. We’re going to try and go win it back-to-back this year and that’s been our goal to do that. Honestly, we have kind of forgotten about last year. We can’t keep speaking about last year, it’s a brand-new year, new teams, new players. We have to go out and show that we deserve to be champions again,” Mahoney said.
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – A rollover crash caused delays in Northern Colorado Springs Wednesday morning, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Police said the traffic accident occurred around 7 a.m.
The southbound Voyager Parkway was closed at Interquest Parkway while police worked to clear the scene.
Two people were taken to the hospital with non-serious injuries, according to police.
This article will be updated when more information is available.
Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – On Tuesday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said a Colorado Springs woman was arrested after she was pulled over in a motorhome.
The sheriff’s office said a deputy pulled the motorhome over because it did not have a license plate. Deputies said they then learned the woman also did not have a valid driver’s license.
Deputies said while they were preparing to tow the motorhome, they found a jar of marijuana inside.
The sheriff’s office told 11 News the suspect, a 47-year-old woman, had 12 ounces of marijuana. State law says adults can only have up to one ounce at a time.
The sheriff’s office said the woman was initially issued a citation for the traffic violations but was ultimately arrested as well due to the amount of marijuana in the motorhome.
Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.
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