{"id":192537,"date":"2026-02-25T04:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/192537\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T04:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:54:14","slug":"closing-arguments-wrap-for-los-gatos-mom-accused-of-drunken-teen-sex-parties-jury-now-deliberating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/192537\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing arguments wrap for Los Gatos mom accused of drunken teen sex parties; jury now deliberating"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) &#8212; Closing arguments in Shannon O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s trial are now complete after the defense had their chance to speak to the jury Monday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After a 16-week trial, jurors must now must decide whether Shannon O&#8217;Connor is guilty of 63 counts of furnishing alcohol to children, child endangerment and other crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">They are crimes a long-time family friend of O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s told me off camera at the courthouse Monday do not fit the woman she knew.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">She says her friend is not the woman prosecutors portrayed during this trial or their two-day-long closing argument.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;She&#8217;s become infamous across this country as the Los Gatos Party mom,&#8221; Legal Analyst Steven Clark said. &#8220;So, she has a built-in bias against her and it&#8217;s important for the defense to humanize her.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">RELATED: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/los-gatos-mom-teen-sex-parties-shannon-oconnor-drinking-party-victims\/13166648\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victims say Los Gatos mom accused in drunken teen sex party scandal is a &#8216;dangerous predator&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">That&#8217;s exactly what O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s attorney Stephen Prekoski attempted to do during his closing arguments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prosecutors say she is charged with crimes back in 2021, but the teens testified their involvement with O&#8217;Connor dated back to 2019 &#8211; when some of them were as young as 11 years old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">During this time, the prosecution argued O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s actions and inactions were a gross departure from the way an ordinary careful person would act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parties were held at her home, local parks and even hotels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Videos shown in court showed the teens drunk beyond comprehension, alcohol stocked in the fridge and O&#8217;Connor there present for it all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">VIDEO: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/los-gatos-teen-parties-shannon-oconnor-woman-secret-arrest\/11145747\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;Pure con artist&#8217;: South Bay mom accused in teen sex parties extradited from Idaho<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Los Gatos mom accused of throwing secret drunken sex parties for teenagers is back in the Bay Area. She arrived at the San Jose airport Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prekoski chose to defend only against counts involving non-consensual sexual acts among the teens, annoying and molesting a child charges, dissuading a witness and child endangerment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Prekoski said he was not there to suggest his client was innocent of all crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But he challenged the jury to find the evidence to suggest O&#8217;Connor ever coerced the teens to ignore consent, put them in situations of great bodily harm, or experienced sexual arousal from teens&#8217; actions &#8211; as the prosecution claimed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The big question for this jury is really going to be how do they react to these sex offenses?&#8221; Clark said. &#8220;Are they going to say that she aided and abetted their commission or was this something that took place when she did not approve of that or condone it in any way?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">O&#8217;Connor faces decades in prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">MORE: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/san-jose-assistant-principal-ruben-guzman-arrested-allegedly-trying-meet-13-year-old-boy-sex\/18586996\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SJ assistant principal arrested for communicating with boy for sex, part of child exploitation sting<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The teens allege she hosted parties, at which she offered alcohol and encouraged them to perform sexual acts with each other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">O&#8217;Connor has not spoken in court, opting not to testify publicly, rather than making her comments through the media before her attorney&#8217;s final comments in front of the jury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;If the defense can convince this jury that she&#8217;s only guilty of these misdemeanors, she is going to receive credit for time served and will get out of jail very quickly. But if she&#8217;s convicted of the felony counts in total, she&#8217;s going to be spending additional time in state prison and have to register as a sex offender.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">There has been nothing about this case that has been speedy and Clark says there&#8217;s no reason to think deliberation or a verdict will be either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But now after four months of trial and five years in court, we wait for the jury&#8217;s decision.<\/p>\n<p><br class=\" \"\/><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA hsDdd DbOXS oklLN GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/abc-news-live-local-watch\/11513295\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Now Streaming 24\/7 Click Here\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR WAUrb hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770671872_43_11518842_247-NOWSTREAMING_1280x720.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"> If you&#8217;re on the ABC7 News app, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/abc-news-live-local-watch\/11513295\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here to watch live<\/a><\/p>\n<p><br class=\" \"\/><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) &#8212; Closing arguments in Shannon O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s trial are now complete after the defense had&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90194,88,90,89],"class_list":{"0":"post-192537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-90194","9":"tag-san-jose","10":"tag-san-jose-headlines","11":"tag-san-jose-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}