Shannon O’Connor
A 51-year-old Los Gatos woman was convicted Wednesday of 48 counts, including two felony sex charges, for hosting parties for young teenagers where she bought alcohol and egged on sex acts, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Shannon O’Connor, who is also known as Shannon Bruga, was initially arrested and charged in 2021 for hosting the parties and faces a long prison term when she is sentenced later this year, prosecutors said.
O’Connor bought liquor, provided condoms, and discouraged teens who were mostly 14 and 15 years old from telling their parents or police about the parties that took place in 2020 and early 2021.
Prosecutors alleged that during a New Year’s Eve party, O’Connor watched and laughed as a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed, and in another case brought a drunk teen to a bedroom where an intoxicated 14-year-old girl was lying in the bed and was then assaulted.
She also let a minor drive her SUV in the Los Gatos High School parking lot while two other teens held on to the back, and one fell off and was knocked unconscious, prosecutors said.
During the trial, 20 young adults and 41 witnesses in all testified, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“This defendant not only didn’t protect these children, she endangered their safety, coordinated their sexual assaults, and she tried to get them not to tell,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “These brave kids came forward to tell the truth about what happened and to put a stop to it.”
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