SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – 47-year-old Shannon O’Connor has been booked into the Santa Clara County jail, and her bail is $10 million.
The Los Gatos mother is charged with 39 criminal counts including felony child abuse, sexual assault, and providing alcohol to minors.
O’Connor, also known as Shannon Bruga, allegedly hosted drunken parties for underage teenagers and encouraged some of them to have sex while she watched, according to the charges filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
The victims were all Los Gatos High School students who ranged between 13-15 years old, according to investigators. O’Connor befriended the teens through her 15-year-old son, and also communicated with them using SnapChat.
The South Bay mother was in custody in Idaho, where she had recently moved with her two sons. Sheriff’s detectives in Idaho said when they went to O’Connor’s home to arrest her, there were 12 underage teenagers with her who had slept over the night before.
She was extradited from Idaho to California Tuesday morning.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said O’Connor will be arraigned in court at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Court documents show O’Connor has a criminal history. Six years ago she pleaded no contest to making false worker compensation insurance claims. Her co-defendant in the insurance fraud case was her husband, Robert Amaral. Amaral, a Silicon Valley tech executive, also pleaded no contest. They were ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution and to serve jail time.
Amaral declined to be interviewed by KRON4 to talk about his wife’s latest legal troubles.
Prosecutors said Amaral did not know about his wife’s secret parties.
Investigators said O’Connor went to great lengths to keep the parties secret from police, other parents, and her husband. O’Connor was always the only adult present and the boozy bashes.
“It took a lot of brave children to come forward and to untangle this deeply disturbing case,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.