Another bad apple found in state’s social work industry

A major scandal that enveloped Colorado’s social services industry for years already – Robin Niceta’s criminal actions – had not even fully died down when another hit – this time a social worker who handled cases for years but was indicted for fraudulently claiming she was qualified for the work.

The Niceta case still is reverberating, as she recently was sentenced to prison for four years for her guilty pleas to faking cancer to try to get out of her case, as she was found guilty of felony attempt to influence a public service and false reporting of child abuse.

Her case got its start when she reported, falsely, a city councilwoman for child abuse. The councilwoman’s offense had been to criticize Niceta’s then-lesbian partner, a police officer, publicly.

Now a report at a CBS affiliate has outlined the latest scandal.

That would be the indictment of Shannon McShane on charges of forgery, perjury, attempt to influence a public servant and retaliation against a witness – all felonies.

The case alleges that McShane, who worked as a child and family investigator and parental evaluator in child-custody cases, apparently used false credentials to obtain her state license.

The state attorney general recently filed a 15-count indictment against her, and the report confirms the state may never have discovered the problems except for the diligent detective work of an anonymous parent who ran up against her agenda in a divorce dispute.

The report confirmed, “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.”

However, the parent, a father involved in an Arapahoe County child dispute, contacted the University of Hertfordshire directly and officials there knew of no such student as McShane. Presented with a copy of her “degree,” they confirmed it was a fake, the report said.

The father then contacted state officials, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

He pointed out she actually was involved in a Texas school at that same time. the report said.

Startlingly, the report confirmed, “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.”

She already had been under review by the state because of a complaint filed by a judge in Morgan County, who subsequently removed her from the list of eligible family investigators in the district over her “one-sided report” in a family dispute.

State officials now confirm McShane has relinquished, permanently, all her state licenses.

She was jailed on the indictment, but released on bond, the report said.

The McShane case follows even as the Niceta case reached its culmination, her sentencing to prison. She formerly was a social worker in Arapahoe County, but pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

She had accused Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky of child abuse after Jurinsky criticized Niceta’s former partner — ex-Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson — on the radio in January of 2022, the report said.

She falsely claimed she had “personally observed” incidents of Jurinsky committing child abuse, before an investigation confirmed there was no evidence of that.

Niceta, besides being jailed on the criminal counts, was ordered to pay $3 million in damages to Jurinsky.