A Los Gatos, California, mother found herself in major legal trouble after her efforts to be a cool mom went way too far.
Shannon O'Connor is the 47-year-old mom of a male student at Los Gatos High School. The family has since moved to Idaho, but they were unable to run from the wild house parties that occurred in their California home.
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O'Connor was hit with 39 criminal counts, including child abuse, sexual assault, and providing alcohol to minors after officials got wind of out-of-control parties that the mom had facilitated and sometimes participated in. Witnesses say that O'Connor sometimes watched the 14- and 15-year-olds engaging in sex acts and provided them condoms, as well as discouraged them from telling their parents about the sexual activity.
This story first appeared on LittleThings in October 2021.
The house parties in question took place from early 2020 through early 2021, meaning they were a risk to the young teens not only because of what was happening at the parties but because of the health crisis as well.
Charging documents allege that at one party, O'Connor gave a teen a condom and pushed him into a room with another intoxicated minor. At a New Year's Eve party, she reportedly watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl.
The parties came to light after a teen suffered a concussion falling from the back of O'Connor's SUV, driven around the Los Gatos High School parking lot by a too-young-to-drive teen with her blessing.
"It took a lot of brave children to come forward and to untangle this deeply disturbing case," Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
"As a parent, I'm shocked. As the DA, I'm determined to hold those adults who endanger children fully accountable to the law and our community."
"I think she needs to be [brought] to justice," said Cathryn Degery of Los Gatos.
"I am shocked. I can't believe that someone would do this to kids, and it's not even right to do this to adults. But why do this to kids?"
New reports say that O'Connor, who is currently in custody, may face additional charges for trying to influence witnesses and hide her assets.
