A 50-year-old Silicon Valley mother is facing dozens of criminal charges after prosecutors said she hosted alcohol-fueled sex parties for her teenage son and his friends and watched as intoxicated girls were sexually assaulted at her home.
Prosecutors in Santa Clara County allege that the woman, identified as Shannon O'Connor, organized a series of secret parties at her Los Gatos-area mansion during 2020, when many schools and activities were shut down.
She is accused of supplying large amounts of alcohol to teens, most of them around 14 and 15 years old, encouraging them to drink until they blacked out or vomited. Authorities say O'Connor used Snapchat and text messages to invite teens, helped some of them sneak out of their homes late at night, and told them not to tell their parents about what was happening, according to the New York Post.
In one exchange cited by prosecutors, she allegedly told a group of teens during a Las Vegas trip, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," after arranging "lots of drinks" for them.
According to court documents, O'Connor is charged with more than 60 felony and misdemeanor counts, including child endangerment, sexual battery, and furnishing alcohol to minors. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in custody while her trial continues.
A judge has previously denied her bail and issued protective orders for multiple alleged victims, including one of her sons, CBS News reported.
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Investigators say O'Connor not only allowed but promoted sexual activity between drunk teenagers, including her own son. In one alleged incident, she reportedly handed a condom to a teen boy and pushed him into a bedroom where an intoxicated 14-year-old girl was lying on a bed.
In another, court filings say she stood by and laughed as a highly intoxicated teen boy sexually battered a girl who later told others, "He made me bleed."
Prosecutors claim O'Connor set aside rooms in her home for teens to have sex and pressured girls to go into those rooms where boys were waiting. Some alleged victims have described the events in court, saying they trusted O'Connor as a "cool mom" before realizing they were being put in dangerous situations.
Authorities say the case shows how quickly alleged abuse can spread when a trusted adult uses social media and access to alcohol to control teenagers, as per Yahoo News.
