‘I still find myself crying’: Victims speak out, Los Gatos ‘party mom’ sentenced

A 52-year-old woman known as the Los Gatos “party mom” will serve 35 years in prison after she was found guilty of hosting drunken parties for teenagers and encouraging sexual acts. 

The mother, Shannon O’Connor, was convicted of 47 charges, including two felony sex charges, after a three-month trial and several years of legal proceedings. After multiple victims presented statements in the three-day hearing, O’Connor received the maximum sentence of 35 years and 10 months, CBS News reported. 

“I listened to the testimony of several victims and their parents and heard these words and phrases over and over again,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in court, according to the news outlet. “…Predator, manipulated, groomed, hypersexualized, violated, betrayed, traumatized, isolated, intimidated, harassed.”

O’Connor also spoke to the victims for the first time in court Thursday, KTVU-TV reported, saying she is sorry for what she put them through. 

“My actions are the cause of your pain, and I’m ashamed, and I face everyday knowing I was the cause of so many people’s anguish. I want you to know I live every day wishing I could take everything back and go back in time and take it all back,” she said. “I am responsible for the harmful siting that I put your daughters and sons through. There really no words to express how sorry I am, but not for me, for all of you.”

During the hearing, many of the victims tearfully read their experiences and spoke to O’Connor directly. One victim, identified as Jane Doe 12, said she still does not feel completely healed from O’Connor’s actions, KGO-TV reported.

“…I still find myself crying myself to sleep over the way that you took complete advantage of me,” the victim said. 

Multiple victims said O’Connor instigated sexual behavior among the teens and it traumatized them into their adult life, KTVU reported. A victim identified as Rylan Doe said that he will never forgive O’Connor. He said he was 11 years old when he met her and got drunk for the first time. 

One woman identified as Scarlet, who is now in college, said O’Connor encouraged her to “satisfy a man’s needs” with sexual acts at a young age. Scarlet said by 14 years old, she wanted to avoid sexual activity, the news outlet reported. 

“As an adult I can’t enjoy the sexual aspects of dating,” Scarlet said. “When someone touches me, I feel violated and then I feel guilty.”

Some family members of the victims also spoke during the hearing, including one of the victim’s mother, who called O’Connor “a monster,” KRON-TV reported. The mother said the O’Connor “preyed upon” her daughter by giving the teenagers alcohol and encouraging sexual acts. 

“You chose to be nothing but demonic,” the mother said. 

The alcohol-fueled parties started around June 2020, when O’Connor would host summer hangouts for her son, who was a minor at the time, Santa Clara County District Attorney Investigator Christina Hanks said in a “statement of facts” document. In many of the instances, the mother would supply “excessive amounts of alcohol” to her son and his friends, including beer, vodka and whiskey, which would cause them to vomit and become unconscious.

Hanks said O’Connor hid the parties from her husband and communicated with the teens in a Snapchat group chat, where she told them not to tell anyone about the parties. Prosecutors said there were even some cases where O’Connor threatened the teens who she believed were telling people about the parties. 

For example, in August 2020, O’Connor believed one of the minors was telling people about the parties and she reacted by threatening to spread rumors about them, court documents show. Because of the threats, the teen suffered “mental and emotional turmoil,” including panic attacks, and she had to sleep in her parents’ bedroom. 

During some of the drunken parties, prosecutors said O’Connor also played a part in some instances of sexual assault and harassment. 

In December 2020, prosecutors said O’Connor gave a boy a condom and pushed him in a room with an intoxicated girl. The girl was afraid and locked herself in a bathroom, according to court documents. Later that day, during that same party, the girl was sexually assaulted. 

The girl told O’Connor: “Why did you leave me in there with him? …you knew like what he was going to do to me.” Prosecutors said O’Connor just “laughed” at the girl’s question. 

O’Connor did not testify in her own defense during the trial, but her reaction in court Thursday is a stark difference from her statements in an interview she did with Bay City News Group last year. During the interview, conducted from the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, O’Connor said she believes the teenagers were trying to avoid getting in trouble. 

“I’m not saying I’m not at all to blame whatsoever. It was my alcohol that they got drunk off of. It was my home that they were at…I feel responsible,” she told the outlet, later adding: “Teenagers are sneaky. They find their way to things.”