Watch: Santa Clara County DA remarks after "party mom" Shannon O'Connor sentencing

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:01]Defendant Shannon O'Connor preyed upon and victimized an entire community of children and their parents for years.

[00:00:11]In March, defendant O'Connor was convicted of 47 criminal charges, including child endangerment, sexual penetration of victims too intoxicated to consent, witness intimidation, and annoying and molesting children.

[00:00:29]More than a dozen teenagers testified at the trial, which lasted for months, and also testified at the sentencing hearing, which lasted for 3 days.

[00:00:41]I listened to the testimony of several victims and their parents, and heard these words and phrases over and over again.

[00:00:51]Predator, manipulated, groomed, hypersexualized, violated, betrayed, traumatized, isolated, intimidated, harassed, made me feel small, suffered severe anxiety and depression, contemplated suicide, not over it, lifelong impact, forever changed me, stole my innocence, took away my childhood.

[00:01:26]But I also heard resilient, strong, survivors.

[00:01:35]The judge sentenced defendant to 35 years and 10 months in jail and prison, the maximum allowed under the law.

[00:01:48]What did the defendant do?

[00:01:51]Defendant targeted and preyed upon middle school children, messaging them incessantly through Snapchat to befriend them and gain their trust.

[00:02:01]Defendant's constant grooming and manipulation of more than a dozen young teenagers and preteens led to countless sexual assaults of minors under her watch along with her close observation and encouragement of these sexual assaults for her own sexual gratification.

[00:02:22]To facilitate these sexual encounters between children, defendant hosted weekly chaotic, alcohol-soaked benders for more than a year providing endless amounts of alcohol that dangerously endangered numerous young teens.

[00:02:45]>> You let them come in.

[00:02:51]Why don't you bring everybody in?

[00:02:59]Okay.

[00:03:00]Do they want to Are there have Welcome to come in if they like.

[00:03:04]>> No.

[00:03:04]>> Okay.

[00:03:15]Nice to see you.

[00:03:19]Okay.

[00:03:24]>> Children were intoxicated to the point of choking on their own vomit, losing consciousness, and the physical or mental ability to consent to sexual encounters, or really to consent to anything.

[00:03:37]Defendant caused tens of thousands of dollars of property damage, broken bones, and concussions because of her wildly dangerous actions.

[00:03:47]Despite warnings from parents, children needing surgery from broken bones or aggravated illness and concussions, the did not stop at any point in her relentless grooming or alcohol-laden get-togethers.

[00:04:02]Instead, defendant aggressively kept these secrets, harassing, bullying, and cyberstalking these children that she thought would tell the police about the damage that she had orchestrated and wrought.

[00:04:19]The defendant lied repeatedly to children, parents, and the police to keep her nefarious actions secret and cloaked in darkness.

[00:04:30]These children, now young adults and their families, will live with the shame and trauma of defendant's crimes for the rest of their lives.

[00:04:40]The people believe that defendant Shannon O'Connor should spend decades behind bars.

[00:04:48]Why?

[00:04:49]To protect our community.

[00:04:51]To punish her.

[00:04:53]To deter her and others from committing such horrendous crimes.

[00:04:57]To incapacitate and prevent her from hurting others.

[00:05:01]And to reflect the enormous gravity of her crimes and the lifelong suffering her actions have inflicted upon the victims and their families.

[00:05:14]Today, for the first time in a long time, for these brave, strong, and resilient children and their families, there is some justice.

[00:05:26]And we are all grateful for that.

[00:05:31]I want to add my sincere thanks and appreciation for the tremendous prosecutors and and investigators that are standing with me. Our lead prosecutor Joanna Lee, her supervisor Rebecca Wise, Morgan Willis, who co-chaired this case with Joanna, and our investigator, Christina Hanks, who spent thousands of hours putting this case together, and but for her efforts, we would not be here.

[00:05:59]And but for the brave children and their families, this defendant would still be victimizing others. So, our heartfelt thanks goes to them.

[00:06:10]Thank you. We'll take any questions.

[00:06:12]>> Can you help us with the uh sentence math? You're uh yeah, 35 years, 10 months, but then there's time >> Yes.

[00:06:19]>> That's the kind of hard to navigate.

[00:06:21]>> Yes.

[00:06:22]Sure. I I I'd describe it this way. The The judge gave the maximum sentence, which was 35 years and 10 months.

[00:06:30]The defendant has credits totaling approximately 9 to 9 and 1/2 years, which means 35 and 10 months minus 9 and 1/2 years is quickly about 27 years. So, she's facing another 27 years in state prison. Uh how long she will serve depends on how she conducts herself in prison. She may be eligible for credits, which would reduce her sentence.

[00:06:58]So, that's the math is a little tricky.

[00:07:02]>> Uh you know, Rosen, I I just spoke with her defense attorney, who had suggested it would actually be, in all likelihood, a 50% time situation. He was under the impression, and we firmly believe, 17 years, roughly.

[00:07:14]>> We'll see how many years she serves.

[00:07:16]She's eligible for credits, but those are Those credits haven't been earned yet, and it's up to the Department of uh Corrections and Rehabilitation to determine those credits. So, she has another approximately 27 years to do, and what credits she gets is something that the state prison will determine.

[00:07:35]>> How do you feel with the outcome of the case after all these years?

[00:07:39]>> This was an incredibly long process that began in 2019.

[00:07:47]But for these children, this conduct would continue to this day.

[00:07:53]Began to continue in another state. I think the judge's sentencing was very thorough and detailed, and the judge gave the maximum allowable sentence under the law, and we think that's appropriate for this defendant.

[00:08:10]>> Okay.

[00:08:11]>> Thank you very much.

[00:08:12]>> Thank you.