A Los Gatos woman threw drunken parties for teenagers where she encouraged sex acts, sometimes non-consensual, and sometimes while she watched, according to charges filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office on Oct. 12.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said 47-year-old Shannon Marie O’Connor threw parties where teenagers—mostly aged 14 and 15—would get drunk while she encouraged sexual behavior—including non-consensual acts.
“It took a lot of brave children to come forward and to untangle this deeply disturbing case,” Rosen said in a release. “As a parent, I’m shocked. As the DA, I’m determined to hold those adults who endanger children fully accountable to the law and our community.”
O’Connor, who currently lives in Eagle, Idaho and also goes by Shannon Bruga, bought vodka and Fireball whiskey, provided condoms, and told teens to keep things secret from their parents (even when one passed out in their own vomit), according to the “statement of facts” filed by the DA’s office.
If convicted of the charges, which include felony child abuse and sexual assault, O’Connor would face incarceration.
She’s also accused of making more than $120,000 in unauthorized charges on a company card while working as an administrative assistant for Aruba Networks.
An Aruba Networks spokesperson confirmed that O’Connor no longer works for the company, but declined to comment further, citing personnel matters.
“As a matter of policy, we encourage team members to report misconduct via confidential channels and we investigate any allegations or suspicions of inappropriate activity thoroughly,” the spokesperson said. “If substantiated, we take action, which may include termination of employment and/or referral to law enforcement.”
The new charges stem from events that date back to at least 2020 until earlier this year, prosecutors said.
“At one party at her home, O’Connor handed an underaged teenager a condom and pushed him into a room with an intoxicated minor,” according to the release, which continued, “During a New Year’s Eve party at her home with about five 14-year-olds, the defendant watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed.”
The DA’s office also alleged she brought a drunk teen into a bedroom at her home where an intoxicated 14-year-old girl was lying in the bed. Afterwards, according to prosecutors, the girl confronted O’Connor.
“Why did you leave me in there with him?” she said, according to the DA’s office. “Like, why did you, like, do that? Like, you knew, like, what he was going to do to me.”
O’Connor would even Snapchat or text children to leave their homes in the middle of the night and drink alcohol she provided at her home, according to prosecutors.
And one teenager was knocked unconscious after she let a child drive her SUV in the Los Gatos High School parking lot, with two teens hanging onto the back of it, the DA’s office said.
