A judge today (May 28) sentenced a Los Gatos woman to 35 years and 10 months, the maximum allowed, behind bars for hosting drunken parties for young teenagers where she bought alcohol and egged on sex acts – some with teens too drunk to consent.
Shannon O’Connor, 52, bought vodka and Fireball whiskey, provided condoms, and 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 teens at these parties were mostly 14- and 15-years old. A jury convicted O’Connor in March.
The sentence came after two days of testimony from the victims, including one young woman who told the court she became suicidal from the trauma.
O’Connor hosted drunken and destructive parties hosted for teens at her home in 2020 and 2021 while society was locked down because of the Covid pandemic. Jurors were told that O’Connor warned the victims not to disclose the parties, or she could go to jail. At one party O’Connor handed an underage teenager a condom and pushed him into a room with an intoxicated minor, according to testimony.
During a New Year’s Eve party with about five 14-year-olds, O’Connor watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed, one witnesss said.
In another case, the defendant brought one drunk teen into a bedroom where an intoxicated 14-year-old girl was lying in the bed. After she was assaulted, the victim said to the defendant: “Why did you leave me in there with him? Like you knew like what he was going to do to me.”
During the trial, 20 young adults and 41 witnesses testified.
In late 2021, O’Connor moved with her two sons to Ada County, Idaho.
Deputies in Idaho, armed with a warrant from Santa Clara County, arrested her there, where they found 10 underage boys and two girls at her home. She is suspected of hosting similar parties in Idaho.
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