Ada County Sheriff Shannon O'Connor is accused of hosting parties for teens involving drinking and sex.
Shannon O’Connor is a California mother who is accused of hosting “drunken” sex parties involving teens as young as 13 at her home. Prosecutors say O’Connor watched the teens engage in sexual activities and even encouraged “non-consensual” sex, according to a statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
O’Connor, who also uses the last name Bruga, is facing dozens of charges including child endangerment, child molestation, sexual assault and providing alcohol to minors.
Prosecutors say most of the accused crimes took place in Los Gatos, California, between June 2020 and May 2021, according to the district attorney’s statement of facts. O’Connor later moved to Eagle, Idaho, and was arrested by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho. She’ll be extradited to California to face the charges.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. O’Connor Encouraged Her Son’s Friends to Have Sex, Even if They Resisted, Investigators Say
Santa Clara County District AttorneyShannon O’Connor is accused of encouraging non-consensual sexual activities involving underage teens.
O’Connor is the mother of a teenage son. According to the statement of facts publicized by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, O’Connor’s son turned 15 in October 2020. He was a freshman student at Los Gatos High School and was on the football team, The Mercury News reported. A parent of one of the girls involved told the newspaper that the teens invited to the parties were friends with O’Connor’s son.
Investigators say O’Connor encouraged the young teens to have sex with each other after supplying them with alcohol and continued to insist even if the teens resisted. The teens involved also described situations that were not consensual, according to the statement of facts.
At one party, a 14-year-old girl said she wasn’t feeling well and went to a bedroom to lay down. Prosecutors said O’Connor brought one of the teenage boys to the bedroom. Investigators said the boy “digitally penetrated” the girl while she cried and that she was too drunk to resist. She told investigators that she later asked O’Connor, “Why did you leave me in there with him? You knew what he was going to do to me.” She said O’Connor laughed at her.
According to prosecutors, O’Connor pressured at least one girl to “do sex stuff” with O’Connor’s son. O’Connor is also accused of encouraging girls to go into bedrooms where a minor boy was waiting. If the girls refused, prosecutors said O’Connor would “take them aside for a private conversation” until they agreed.
2. Prosecutors Say O’Connor Encouraged Binge Drinking & Never Called for Help When the Teens Passed out or Vomited
Santa Clara County District AttorneyShannon O’Connor is accused of hosting drunken sex parties for young teenagers.
Prosecutors said O’Connor supplied all of the alcohol for the minors to drink and that she was always the only adult present at the parties. According to the statement of facts from the district attorney’s office, the teens often drank alcohol to the point where they vomited or passed out but O’Connor never called for help.
At one party, according to investigators, O’Connor instructed a 13-year-old girl to watch over a boy who was extremely intoxicated and covered in his own vomit.
Police said they obtained videos from parties that showed O’Connor with the teens as they consumed alcohol. She also communicated with the teens about alcohol in a Snapchat group, prosecutors said.
3. The Parties Led to Serious Injuries, a Near-Drowning & Property Damage, Officials Say
In addition to underage binge drinking that caused teens to get sick and the alleged sexual assaults, investigators say there were other injuries and dangerous situations. In December 2020, prosecutors said O’Connor drove her son and two of his friends in her vehicle while they drank alcohol.
According to prosecutors, in one instance O’Connor drove to Los Gatos High School, where she allowed one of the boys to get behind the wheel and drive around the parking lot. Prosecutors said O’Connor’s son and the third boy hung on the back of the SUV. The third boy fell of the vehicle, hit his head and was unconscious for at least 30 seconds, prosecutors said.
A witness called 911. When police approached O’Connor’s vehicle at a nearby 7-11, where they had gone to get ice for the boy, O’Connor claimed the vomit in the backseat of the vehicle was due to car sickness. Officials said a doctor later confirmed the boy had suffered a concussion.
A teenage girl told investigators that at one party, she nearly drowned in the hot tub after drinking too much alcohol. One girl also broke her pinkie finger and required surgery to fix it after she was injured at a Halloween party, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also described a party that took place at a rented cottage in Santa Cruz to celebrate O’Connor’s son’s 15th birthday. Prosecutors said O’Connor ordered two large deliveries of alcohol to the home. The party resulted in $9,000 worth of property damage to the home, officials said. The homeowners’ external cameras recorded the teens urinating and throwing up outside.
4. O’Connor Kept the Parties a Secret From Her Husband & Other Parents & Helped the Teens Sneak Out of Their Homes, Prosecutors Say
Ada County SheriffShannon O’Connor also goes by the name Shannon Bruga.
Investigators said O’Connor hid the parties from her husband. Prosecutors described one party in which O’Connor rushed all of the teens out of the house when she realized her husband was almost home.
During a Halloween party at their home, prosecutors said O’Connor supplied the alcohol but had the teens hide it in the bushes until she and her husband left the house. O’Connor instructed the teens over Snapchat to clean up the house before she and her husband returned, investigators said.
O’Connor helped the teens sneak out of their homes at night to attend the parties, prosecutors said. She also pressured the teens not to tell their parents what was going on. One girl told investigators that O’Connor threatened to spread rumors about her, according to prosecutors.
5. O’Connor & Her Husband Lived in a Multimillion-Dollar Home in Los Gatos
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office named O’Connor’s husband in the statement of facts. The Mercury News further identified him as the chief revenue officer for a tech firm called SlashNext.
The case summary that listed the charges against O’Connor, which the district attorney’s office made public, included the address of the home in Los Gatos where investigators said most of the parties took place. According to a quick online search, the house was last purchased in 2013 for nearly $3 million. As of this writing, it was listed for sale for more than $4.6 million.
Prosecutors said at the time of her arrest that O’Connor was living in Eagle, Idaho. It was not immediately clear when she moved from Los Gatos.
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