Party Mom Shannon O’Connor verdict

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A Santa Clara County jury on Wednesday returned mostly guilty verdicts in the case of “Party Mom” Shannon O’Connor, a Los Gatos mom accused of hosting parties for underage teens that included alcohol and sexual conduct.

Mostly guilty verdicts

What we don’t know:

There were a few not guilty results, however the jury found that O’Connor was guilty on the  majority of more-than 60 charges including child endangerment and the sexual penetration of an intoxicated child. 

The jury began deliberating on Feb. 24 at the San Jose Hall of Justice. The trial lasted about four months. 

Underage alcohol, sex parties 

Why you should care:

The 51-year-old O’Connor faced 63 criminal counts, including felony sex offenses and misdemeanors, related to hosting parties with alcohol and allowing underage teens to drink and engage in sexual conduct.

Prosecutors spoke with some 13 students, who said O’Connor invited them to her Los Gatos home and encouraged the teens and her son to drink alcohol and engage in sexual activity. 

The teens said she tried to hide the parties from her husband and neighbors. Prosecutors said O’Connor hosted the parties between 2021 and 2022. Some of the students said they were victims of sexual misconduct.

The other side:

O’Connor did not testify in her defense, the Mercury News noted. 

But she did call the news organization on Dec. 23, 2025, from call, where she told the Mercury News that she accepted some responsibility for the parties, but only through the lens of a concerned mother and was trying to communicate with the teens at their level, trying to encourage them to be safe when they were drinking and having sex.

A legal expert noted O’Connor’s defense attorney, Stephen Prekoski, did not contest some accusations that O’Connor used bad judgment in supplying alcohol to underage teens, but instead, focused on the felony sex charges.

O’Connor was arrested in 2021 in Ada County, Idaho, where she was living at the time. She was brought back to Santa Clara County jail, where she has been held ever since.

These convictions will also require O’Connor to register as a sex offender.

By the numbers:

Here’s the breakdown of the verdict:

Guilty: 

Count 1 endangering health of child August 2020 against John Doe 1

Count 2 endangering health of child John Doe 1 Jun 22, 2020

Count 3 endangering health of child John Doe 1 Aug 1 2020 to Feb 1, 2021

Count 6 endangering health of child John Doe 4 Oct 2, 2020 to Oct 5, 2020

Count 7 endangering health of child John Doe 8 Oct 2, 2020 to Oct 5, 2020

Count 8 endangering health of child John Doe 3 Oct 2 2020 to Oct 5 2020

Count 9 endangering health of child Jane Doe 1 Oct 30 2020 to Oct 31, 2020

Count 10 endangering health of child John Doe 5 Oct 30 2020 to Oct 31 2020

Count 11 endangering the health of child Jane Doe 4 Nov 1 2020 to Feb 14, 2021

Count 12 sexual penetration of intoxicated  victim Jane Doe 4 Dec 11, 2020

Count 48 lesser count of count 13 child endangerment not causing great body injury Jane Doe 4 Dec 11 2020

Count 14 attempting to dissuade  victim from reporting crime John Doe 1 Dec 19, 2020

Count 15 endangering health of child John Doe 2 Dec 19, 2020

Count 16 endangering health of child John Doe 3 Dec 19, 2020

Count 17 endangering health of child John Doe 1 Dec 31, 2020

Count 18 sexual penetration of intoxicated victim Jane Doe 3 Dec 31, 2020

Count 19 endangering health of child Jane Doe 3 Dec 31, 2020

Count 60 lesser count of 20 child endangerment not likely to cause great bodily injury Jane Doe 2 Feb. 15, 2021

Count 22 selling giving or furnishing alcohol to person under 21 Jane Doe 1 June 1, 2020 to Aug 1, 2020

Count 24 selling giving or furnishing alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 1 Aug. 1, 2020 to Feb 1, 2021

Count 26 selling furnishing or giving alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 2 Sept. 18, 2020

Count 28 selling, giving, furnishing alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 4 Oct. 2, 2020 to Oct. 5, 2020

Count 29 annoying or molesting a child under 18 John Doe 1 June 22, 2019 to Feb. 2021

Count 31 child endangerment not likely to cause great bodily injury John Doe Oct. 1, 2020 to Feb 1, 2021

Count 32 child endangerment not likely to cause great bodily injury Jane Doe 7 Oct. 10, 2020 to Feb 1, 2021

Count 33 selling, furnishing, giving alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 1 June 22, 2020

Count 34 selling furnishing or giving alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 2 Oct. 1 2020 to Feb 1, 2021

Count 35 selling, furnishing or giving alcohol to person under 21 Jane Doe 7 Oct. 10, 2020 to Feb. 1, 2021

Count 37 selling, furnishing, giving alcohol to person under 21 John Doe 3 Oct. 2, 2020 to Oct. 5, 2020

Count 38 child endangerment not likely to produce great bodily injury John Doe 4 Sept 1, 2020 to Oct. 31, 2020

Count 39 selling furnishing or giving alcohol to a person under 21 John Doe 4 Sept. 1, 2020 to Oct. 31, 2020

Count 42 selling furnishing or giving alcohol to person under 21 Jane Doe 1 Oct 30, 2020 to Oct. 31, 2020

Count 43 selling furnishing giving alcohol to a person under 21 John Doe 5 Oct. 30, 2020 to Oct. 31, 2020

Not guilty:

Count 4 endangering health of child John Doe 2 Sept 18, 2020

Count 25 lesser count of count 4 child endangerment (but guilty of child endangerment that could produce bodily injury)

Count 5 endangering health of child Joe Doe 8 Sept. 18, 2020

Count 13 endangering health of child Jane Doe 4 Dec. 11, 2020

Count 20 endangering health of child Jane Doe 2 Feb. 15, 2021

 

News