(KRON) — Current and former Los Gatos High School students tearfully urged a Santa Clara County judge to send an accused sexual predator, also known as “Party Mom,” away to prison with a maximum sentence.
Shannon O’Connor, 48, kept her head down and was silent while her alleged victims spoke in court Friday. According to the District Attorney’s Office, O’Connor threw disturbing and dangerous alcohol-fueled sex parties for teenagers between 2020-2021. The secret parties were organized by O’Connor at her Los Gatos mansion without her husband’s knowledge, investigators said.
“Party Mom” pressured teenagers to binge drink and engage in sex for O’Connor’s own sexual gratification, according to investigators.
O’Connor has pleaded not guilty. She’s been in jail without bail for more than a year as she awaits trial. O’Connor was attacked by five female inmates at Elmwood Correctional Facility in October, court records show.
Friday’s court proceedings indicate that her defense team may be preparing for O’Connor to change her plea in order to avoid a trial. Victims told the judge personal stories about how O’Connor befriended them through her two teenaged sons, and social media, while the girls were freshmen at Los Gatos High School.
One girl, “Jane Doe 8,” said Friday, “This woman tore my life apart. I have suffered and had to deal with the reputation of being ‘the girl that got raped.’ I will live my high school years with this cloud over me.”
Girls told investigators that they were sexually assaulted by boys while extremely intoxicated — and O’Connor watched.
“Jane Doe 9” talked about one traumatizing night when she realized she was being followed by a car with no headlights on. The girl had already obtained a restraining order against O’Connor, she said. But when she looked over at the car, she saw O’Connor and her son “screaming and calling me nasty names.”
“Jane Doe 9” said she ran and hid in a thorny bush to escape.
Court proceedings indicate that O’Connor’s defense attorneys are seeking a prison sentence of eight years or less. Jane Doe 8 said, “Shannon doesn’t have a conscience. She is a con-artist. Only eight years would be a dishonor to the victims. I will never have the life I once had. And neither should she.”
The District Attorney’s Office charged O’Connor with 39 criminal counts, including felony child endangerment and sexual battery. Victims ranged in ages between 13-15 years old, prosecutors said. If convicted of the 39 charges, she faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“Jane Doe 9” told the judge that she has nightmares. Every morning she wakes up, she thanks God for being free from stalking, threats, and harassments inflicted by O’Connor, she said. “Her actions are bizarre. She is a manipulator and and narcissist. She continues to show signs of no remorse,” Jane Doe 9 said.
Jane Doe 9 said, “I am questioned about what happened by my peers at school. Time is the greatest ally of truth,” but O’Connor has yet to confess to the truth. “I desperately want my life back, before she took it away from me,” Jane Doe 9 said.
When the Los Gatos Police Department launched an investigation into the mother of two in 2021, O’Connor fled with her sons from California to Idaho, and moved to the same town that Jane Doe 8 had recently moved to.
“Shannon moved to my town in Idaho. I got 27 calls with no caller ID’s. It was Shannon breathing into the phone, haunting me. I can’t even describe how terrified I was, I thought I was going to get killed,” Jane Doe 8 said.
O’Connor continued stalking Jane Doe 8 through TikTok, Instagram, and at her workplace, Jane Doe 8’s mother told the judge. The mother said, “She is the rapist of my child’s innocence. For months, I asked and asked for Shannon to stop. Stop contacting my children, my daughter will never be allowed to have a relationship with your son.”
Jane Doe 2’s parents asked her to attend Friday’s hearing, but she declined saying, “Mom, I want to forget this ever happened.”
Jane Doe 2’s mother told the judge, “She’s not here because she doesn’t want Shannon to own one more minute of her life. My daughter is not here because she’s busy doing what kids in their junior year should be doing: studying for AP tests, the SAT’s, getting her prom dress fitted, dreaming about colleges.”
Before Jane Doe 2 met O’Connor, she was a “sweet, silly, adorable blonde-haired girl. After she met Shannon, she started to withdraw,” the mother said. Jane Doe 2’s mother said O’Connor lacks any sense of remorse, and only feels sorry for herself.
Several more alleged victims and their parents also spoke in court imploring the judge to sentence O’Connor to more than eight years. If she receives an eight-year sentence, with good inmate behavior, O’Connor could be released from prison in as little as four years.
Defense attorney Brian Madden did not present any evidence, nor called in witnesses, for his client’s court appearance.
O’Connor’s husband, Robert Amaral, reportedly filed for divorce.
Police said when they arrested O’Connor in October 2021, officers found her in her new Idaho home with 12 underage teenagers who had slept over the night before. “Party Mom” was well aware that she was under investigation, but she continued throwing parties for teens away, according to police and prosecutors.
Jane Doe 4’s mother told the judge Friday, “Shannon continued these parties in Idaho. She’s a very sick individual and a sexual predator. She taught our daughter how to drink like a rock star. She was only 14, had never had alcohol and never had a boyfriend. It’s disgusting to me.”
Investigators said O’Connor went to great lengths to keep the parties secret from police, parents, and her husband. O’Connor was always the only adult present and the boozy bashes, according to court documents.
Jane Doe 4’s mother said her daughter is healing through therapy from trauma that left her on a “dark path,” struggling with depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Her daughter is learning how to feel joy again, love herself, and make healthy decisions, the mother said.
Two boys who were allegedly victimized by O’Connor, “John Doe 1” and “John Doe 2,” wrote letters to the judge under seal.
Judge Elizabeth Peterson did not make any rulings Friday. O’Connor was ordered to return to court on May 16.
