Mom accused of throwing alcohol-fuelled parties for teenage son and friends and watching them have sex

Shannon Marie O'Connor, the mother of a teenager from California, has been accused of throwing secret parties for him and other teens, providing them with alcohol, and then "facilitating and watching" their sex acts, some of which were non-consensual.

The 47-year-old has been charged with 39 criminal counts, including felony child abuse, sexual assault, and providing alcohol to minors for hosting the parties. According to a criminal complaint filed with the Santa Clara County Superior Court, the Los Gatos native allegedly started hosting such parties in June last year and held them until this past spring while attempting to keep them secret, reports People magazine.

Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office alleges O'Connor would sometimes "Snapchat or text teens to leave their homes in the middle of the night and drink at her home." She used to provide beer, vodka, Fireball whiskey, and other alcohol at her party, along with condoms. She would then encourage sex acts among her party guests, aged between 14 to 16 like her own son, and then sometimes watch them do it.

She allegedly watched and laughed as "a drunk teen sexually battered a young girl in bed" during a party on New Year's Eve. On another occasion, she allegedly brought an intoxicated male teen into a bedroom where a drunk 14-year-old girl was lying in bed, after which the girl asked her, "Why did you leave me in there with him?"

The accused also dissuaded the minors from calling for help or the authorities "when one of them passed out in their own vomit" after drinking too much. She would discourage them from telling their parents or anyone else about their gatherings as she could go to jail if anyone was told. She also once badgered a 14-year-old girl after she suspected her to be an informant.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release, "It took a lot of brave children to come forward and to untangle this deeply disturbing case. 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 now lives in Idaho and is awaiting extradition to California for an arraignment. She also faces felony fraud charges for making over $120,000 in unauthorized charges on a corporate card from a previous job.