Shannon O’Connor, shown at a 2021 arraignment hearing in San Jose, used her Los Gatos home and her access to her teenage son’s friends to create a dangerous environment for minors, prosecutors said.
Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group/Getty Images
Shannon O’Connor, the Los Gatos mother convicted of hosting alcohol-fueled parties where teenagers were encouraged to drink and engage in sexual activity, was sentenced Thursday to 35 years and 10 months in prison.
The sentence — the maximum allowed — capped a case that drew national attention and rattled the Los Gatos community, where prosecutors said O’Connor used her home and her access to her teenage son’s friends to create a dangerous environment for minors.
“Many people call this defendant the ‘Los Gatos Party Mom.’ This isn’t some fun parent giving sips of wine spritzers to kids,” Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “She facilitated dangerous and drunken sex acts with these children. She risked their lives and damaged their psyches. She is not a party mom. Shannon O’Connor is a convicted felon. Shannon O’Connor is a registered sex offender.”
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A Santa Clara County jury convicted O’Connor in March of dozens of crimes after a three-month trial, including felony child endangerment, dissuading a witness and charges tied to sexual assaults involving intoxicated teenagers. Prosecutors said the parties took place in 2020 and 2021 and involved mostly 14- and 15-year-olds.
O’Connor, 52, apologized in court Thursday after three days of victim impact statements from young women and their families.
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“My actions are the cause for your pain, and I am ashamed,” O’Connor said, according to ABC7. “And I face every day knowing that I was the cause.”
She added: “I am not sorry for myself, I am sorry for all of you and what I put you through. But as I look at you all today, I hope you can find some comfort knowing that I have been punished and will continue to be for years to come.”
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The apology came after victims and relatives described lasting trauma, anger and grief from the parties O’Connor hosted and the control they said she exerted over teenagers’ lives.
One victim told the court Tuesday: “The trauma shattered parts of me, and every day I wake up, I’m rebuilding what you broke,” according to ABC7.
Shannon O’Connor of Los Gatos was sentenced Thursday to nearly 36 years in prison for throwing alcohol- and sex-fueled parties for teenagers.
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office
Prosecutors said O’Connor bought alcohol for teens, provided condoms, used Snapchat and text messages to communicate with minors, and discouraged them from telling their parents or police what happened at the parties.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said after the verdict that 20 young adults and 41 witnesses testified at trial.
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The jury convicted O’Connor of 48 charges, including two felony sex charges, according to the district attorney’s office. She was also known as Shannon Bruga.
O’Connor’s attorney, Stephen Prekoski, had argued that she should have a chance at rehabilitation and should not receive what would effectively be a life sentence.
He previously said the defense had focused on contesting the sex crime allegations while acknowledging that O’Connor provided alcohol to minors.
Before Thursday’s sentence, Santa Clara County Judge Elizabeth Peterson had found aggravating factors true for O’Connor’s felony convictions, including that she exploited a position of trust and targeted vulnerable victims, according to the district attorney’s office.
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The case began more than four years ago, after O’Connor was arrested at her Idaho home on suspicion of child endangerment and sexual battery. Prosecutors later secured a grand jury indictment that moved the case toward trial.