A California woman — dubbed the “party mom” by local authorities — has been convicted on dozens of charges related to hosting alcohol-fueled parties for young teens. The district attorney’s office determined that the mother “endangered” teens and “coordinated” sexual assaults during boozy parties involving her 15-year-old son.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted 51-year-old Shannon O’Connor of 48 charges — including two felony charges of sexual penetration — stemming from hosting parties for teens that included alcohol and sexual conduct, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office stated in a news release titled, “Party mom convicted: Faces long prison term.”
‘This defendant not only didn’t protect these children, she endangered their safety, coordinated their sexual assaults, and she tried to get them not to tell.’
The Mercury News reported, “The sexual penetration convictions were the most serious, as prosecutors argued that O’Connor sexually assaulted the two girls by enabling them to become so intoxicated they could not legally consent.”
KTVU-TV reported, “After the verdicts were read, the parent of one of the victims called O’Connor a ‘predator,’ a ‘stalker,’ a ‘groomer,’ and a ‘harasser,’ who was ‘very good at what she did.'”
O’Connor could face more than 30 years in prison, according to the Mercury News. Plus, she must register as a sex offender. Her sentencing is scheduled for March 26 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
The district attorney’s office said in the statement that O’Connor, also known as Shannon Bruga, hosted “drunken parties for young teenagers where she bought alcohol and egged on sex acts — some with teens too drunk to consent.”
The announcement noted that O’Connor purchased vodka and whiskey for the teenagers and even provided them with condoms.
The DA said O’Connor “discouraged the teens from telling their parents or police about the parties or calling for help when one of the victims passed out in their own vomit.”
The district attorney’s office pointed out that the children at these boozy parties were “mostly 14- and 15-year-olds.”
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “This defendant not only didn’t protect these children, she endangered their safety, coordinated their sexual assaults, and she tried to get them not to tell.”
Rosen added, “These brave kids came forward to tell the truth about what happened and to put a stop to it.”
As Blaze News reported in October 2021, O’Connor organized secret parties for teens, purchased “copious amounts of alcohol” for the underage attendees, and even encouraged them to have sex.
An investigator for the DA’s office said in court records that O’Connor “supplied excessive amounts of alcohol to her son and his minor friends to the point where minors would vomit, be unable to stand, and fall unconscious,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Mercury News previously reported that the parties took place at O’Connor’s $4.7 million home in Los Gatos.
The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office said in October 2021 that the “child abuse charges outline a long line of O’Connor’s drunken and destructive house parties for young teens lasting from 2020 to earlier this year.”
O’Connor warned the teens to keep the boozy parties secret, according to authorities.
“She would warn the teens not to disclose the parties, or she could go to jail,” the DA’s office stated.
What’s more, the DA’s office said O’Connor even “handed an underage teenager a condom and pushed him into a room with an intoxicated minor.”
“During a New Year’s Eve party at her home with about five 14-year-olds, the defendant watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed,” the DA stated.
The DA’s office said O’Connor also “brought one drunk teen into a bedroom at her home where an intoxicated 14-year-old girl was lying in the bed.”
After the underage girl allegedly was sexually assaulted, the juvenile female asked O’Connor: “Why did you leave me in there with him?”
The DA’s office revealed that O’Connor also used the Snapchat social media platform or text messaged teens to “leave their homes in the middle of the night” to “drink at her home.”
“In another case, she let a minor drive her SUV in the Los Gatos High School parking lot while two other teens held on to the back,” the DA’s statement reads. “One fell off and was knocked unconscious.”
The Mercury News reported in October 2021 that O’Connor was “apparently known as ‘the cool mom’ since the older son was in middle school and had raised eyebrows among some parents for her chumminess with her sons’ friends.”
Citing prosecutors, Fox News previously reported that O’Connor pressured teen girls to engage in sexual acts with boys — including her then-15-year-old son.
“If the girls did not consent, the 47-year-old mom would allegedly pull them aside for ‘a private conversation’ until they each went into a room with a boy,” according to Fox News.
The Washington Post, citing court documents, reported in 2021 that “when O’Connor suspected one teen was telling outsiders about her secret parties, she threatened to spread rumors about the girl and persuaded other teens to harass her.”
Court documents also state that the girl “suffered mental and emotional turmoil,” including panic attacks, and subsequently needed to sleep in her parents’ bedroom.
In October 2021, O’Connor was arrested at her home in Ada County, Idaho. O’Connor was extradited to the Santa Clara County Jail.
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