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Bang to Rights — Party Mum Hosted S*X Parties For KIDS. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
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See terms. So many of us believe that predators look a certain way, but the scary thing is that the majority simply look like you and me. Move through the world like you and me. Except, as we know, they are nothing like you and me. I'm a mechanic. Welcome to Bang to Rights. The deep dive crime podcast, which takes you through some of the most heinous crimes the world has ever seen. Hi guys, welcome back or today's case. It's satisfying on one level. Believe me, stay with it and you will be satisfied. But it also brings to mind the uneasy feeling that we get when women are involved in sexually predatory actions. Of course, some women are involved in this horrendous shadowy world. But for the most part, we like to think about women as nurturing and empathetic and motherlike. And when somebody betrays that description in the most grotesque way possible, it just doesn't sit easily with us.
Don't be wrong. We know that for the most part men are good and women are good. But when they are bad, some are genuinely evil beyond belief. And this woman impacts and affects so many children, genuinely. The ripple effect is enormous. And that's before we think about the impact on the families that she affects too. And it's one of those cases that just becomes more and more horrifying as we go through it. And whilst no lives are taken in this case, it doesn't mean that lives aren't devastated because of this predator's actions. If you're new to my channel, I release my content here twice weekly. If you find it interesting, why don't you give me a subscribe, give me a like. You can also share this particular content, which would help me a great deal. And also just to say I have a new channel called Bedtime Crime. So if you want to head over there and get some prime fiction, it's read to you. Maybe when you're relaxing, chilling out or going to bed, make sure you subscribe. And to all those of you who have done, thank you.
It genuinely means the world. Let's talk about this unbelievable gaze. Now before Shannon Marie O'Connor makes the headlines as Las Gatos party mom, she's a wife. She's the mother. She's also living in one of the most desirable and affluent communities in Northern California. Believe me, most of us would like to trade our lives with this woman as far as her living conditions are concerned. Now her husband at the time was Robert Amaral. Now he's a Silicon Valley technology executive. We know the kind of wages this guy's going to be on. Literally, they're living the American dream. He's also formerly achieved revenue officer for different companies. So she has a trappings of an awesome life. And O'Connor herself works as an administrative assistant for our Ruben Networks. So she's also earning money. But I will say that she wasn't the most reliable employee. I'm going to tell you, I think if I had a lot of money, I might not be the most reliable employee.
I'm probably just going to be enjoying my life, but everyone's different. Now Las Gatos, it's not the kind of place that most people are going to associate with crimes like this. That's not to say for one moment that abuse doesn't happen in affluent districts. It's just we tend to associate those places with it shiny, beautiful places and people. And it's a very wealthy Silicon Valley town at the base of the Santa Cruz mountains. Imagine this a place with really expensive homes and really high performing schools with just manicured neighborhoods and manicured families. And she literally owns a multi-million dollar home. They've got luxury vehicles. She goes on extravagant holidays. She goes to spend big when she's shopping. She's got cosmetic procedures and regular hair and nail appointments constantly happening because she can afford it. So the woman who becomes known as the Las Gatos party mum is actually Shannon O'Connor. She was born in 1974.
So this means she's in her middle eight forties during the period where the effects of the pandemic are going to be very bad. Where the offences that I'm going to cover actually take place. What's really weird about Shannon O'Connor is she basically becomes the center of a teenage social circle or connected to her own son. Now a son understandably to protect him is non-immized. So he's known as John Doe 3 in this case. Bear in mind he's just 14 years of age at this time. There are most of his peers which you would imagine to be the case kids hang around with kids their age. Now in this house normal rules I'm going to describe are seemingly inverted. The things that are meant to happen in a home the opposite happens. You know as a parent it's our job to say fun our children is our job to protect our children. It's our job absolutely to have boundaries where our children are concerned. But at this point O'Connor becomes known as a highly involved mother with very close relationships to the teenagers around her son.
Now don't get me wrong I have two boys that adults now but when I was bringing them up my house was full of children all the way through to now. It's as simple as that. My house is often still full of their friends but you know what the difference is? They are friends with my sons. I care for them I certainly have good relationships with some of them but the reality is they are my kids friends. I am not involved in anything more than being a mother. They may get served food by me. I am certainly not the kind of mother who ever in my life played my boy's friends with alcohol for example which is something you're going to hear about in this case. Now this woman's involvement in her sons and his peers lives gets concerning in particular around 2020. Now bear in mind this is a COVID period and let's be clear during that time kids lives were fractured horrifically by the pandemic. And I know that some of you will have kept your kids at home and will not have allowed them to see their friends. I get it there was a lot of structure there was a lot of legalities associated with that.
I didn't do that my children were allowed to see their friends because I wanted their mental health to remain in at least a tolerable state. And therefore I did not abide by those rules. It is well documented that that was my mind set and that was my view during the pandemic. It's in the press you can read about it because I refused to do what I felt was harmful for my children. And I took the consequences of those belief systems and I also respect people who disagree with me. That's the beauty of being an individual unique autonomous human being. But those concerns really escalate because of the way that she behaves during this period. Doggamy wrong the were concerns back in 2019 but she basically joined 2020 puts out this scenario where she wants to help the kids socialize during lockdown. And so she starts opening up her home to the peers. She starts organizing gatherings at her home. I bear in mind her home is gorgeous. You know if you're going to go hang out during a pandemic and somebody opens a home like this you bet you bought a dollar.
I'd be queuing up to go. But all of these gatherings became something that are deborched is as simple as that. She was supplying copious amounts of alcohol to her son and his friends. They're miners. What kind of example are you setting to your kids if you're providing them with alcohol? We all know kids do drink alcohol. Many of our children have lied to us and gone out and done things. They'll vape, they'll smoke, they'll get drunk. It's devastating as a parent when you find it out. But you also accept that that's part and parcel of children's growing independence. They deceive you. The idea that you would be the person providing your child with alcohol and their friends with alcohol shows that you have no consideration a parental boundaries. And most parents of children at age would be very unhappy with their children drinking and parting. Now I get it. There'll be many of you saying well occasionally when it's been events or home and other people's children have been present.
They've been allowed a glass of wine. Totally accept that. That is totally normal. I lived in France. Believe me. The culture in France is that kids have alcohol. But we know the limits and those limits are there for good reason. And we also know that the people we have to get permission from are the parents of those children. Should they be allowed alcohol at all? That's not happening. The parents don't know she is doing this. And she's not just providing them with huge amounts of alcohol. I mean huge amounts. She's also picking them up and bringing them over to her house and then helping them to fabricate lies about where they are. And she's then starting to get involved in their social media. She's communicating with them through Snapchat. She's getting in contact with them by phone, which is very strange because at the end of the day stay away from the kids. That's your child's opportunity only to be in touch with friends. It's not for you to start reaching those boundaries and having private conversation with their mates.
Now initially most of the kids did what you would imagine you were I would do when we were at age. You see her as the cool party mum. Simple as that. You're like wow. This is the adult that owns the house. Pixers up in the car, allows us to drink alcohol, chats with us on social media, also helps us cover things up for my parents. What a cool mum. You can imagine initially that viewpoint. I mean don't get me wrong when you think about it later than the line. The children that she had would be mortified by the fact she'd been doing those things. But you don't have the nuance when you're 14. You don't have the detail when you're 14. You just see that person. We're some see heroes and other see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. While others follow the noise. We follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. As providing you with opportunities you wouldn't be allowed otherwise. And also all of those kids going to her home know that she is indeed the mother of one of their friends.
So they're thinking she's a trusted party and we bring kids up to believe that they can trust adults particularly women. So when one is betraying their trust so grotesquely they don't really consider it that way because they've been told that if adults are saying it's okay then maybe it's okay. And the house itself was also part of the pool because they had a basketball court, they had a pool, they had a hot tub. It's just this well-feel us gats us lifestyle and it makes O'Connor's home feel really exciting, really permissive and incredibly different from any other ordinary adults who provide spaces. I mean when you go on school trips they're not like I have some alcohol. It's just not the way people roll. So all of a sudden this adult is creating a nirvana for young people. We know it's bad for them but it's what every kid wants to be a grown up right to hang loose right to a party in an amazing place with a pool and a hot tub and just get a little bit of time to just let off that steam in a really weird world where a COVID pandemic has stolen so many things from them.
But what they don't realize is that what's actually happening is a pattern of grooming, intoxication manipulation, coercion, concealment and also child endangerment of the highest level that unfolds over months. O'Connor is now deeply ingrained in the group and once she's got her foot in there she starts to normalize sexual discussion. And this is with numerous minors many of whom are just 14 or 15 years of age and actually some reports mention that there were also incidents with minors of 11 to 12 years of age 2 now all of the victims have been anonymized and rightfully so you need to protect them. So it's not easy to give you the exact ages of all of them but we could say between 11 and 15 years of age there were young people impacted also there are minors who are always referred to as Jane Doe or John Doe in these cases because we can't name them and we do know however the O'Connor Sonny's named as John Doe 3.
Now some reports do mention that she actually had two sons but it does seem that only John Doe 3 is mentioned in them so maybe the other son wasn't involved or didn't actually give evidence. Now as there are so many victims there are a lot of Jane and John Doe's in this case also when these parties were happening we also need to make clear that Robert Hoseburned he was away from the home. So she managed to hide all of this from him for the most part. I'm sure that he probably had some suspicions about kids going round. He probably wasn't that concerned because at the end of the day we've all been young and we all know how awful it would be to be locked down and not be able to see our mates and they have an amazing environment and he probably thinks that if she is having kids round it's to prioritize her children's socialization and mental health and he's not thinking that she's doing anything illegal or untoward with those kids. Now one of the things that we do know about her actions is that she told the teens who were coming round for the parties to absolutely 100% wait until her husband's left before they come around or before they drink alcohol.
So he is not implicated in this crime. He is just away earning the money doing what he needs to do to provide for the family and like I said the amounts of alcohol that she supplies to her son and to his friends is beyond the world. So his friends is beyond excessive. She likes to get them into a position where they were vomiting, where they weren't able to stand. They literally lose consciousness in matching being an adult who's enjoying that reality because she's enjoying it. This doesn't put her off. She doesn't need to change what behavior. She encourages it. And when you think about that kind of level of intoxication we're talking about people giving them spirits aren't we. You know that's vodka intoxication because you don't need a lot to absolutely lose it completely. Let's think back to our teenage years. I wasn't a drinker by the way. I had a really bad experience with alcohol and it put me off it until I was 26. So I don't have those wild stories of being massively intoxicated. But I have many wild stories about being the sober one whilst my friends were nearly unconscious because they drank half a bottle of vodka pretty quickly not realizing the impact that would have on them.
And then they lose control of all their faculties. That's the reality and it happens quickly really quickly. Now I can relate to that as an adult where I've made some poor choices in having a little bit too much to drink at home where I feel safe. And even then that makes me afraid that I might not remember certain things and I'm not a big drinker. But like I said you took just spirit. You're in a different world than having a glass of wine and she's doing this with those kids. She's giving those kids enough alcohol to mean they lose consciousness. And if you're willing to allow children to lose consciousness when you've got a hot tub and a pool you're putting them in a position where they might die. Imagine that. But it's not just that that she's creating in this completely unsafe environment. She's placing them purposefully in situations where sexual assaults and serious injuries occur under her direction like that sink him under her direction. In once in a party this is between June and August 2020, John Doe's X, better mind, he's 14. He became so intoxicated that he loses consciousness in the bathroom and he wakes up vomiting.
Could have died. Could have choked to death on his own vomit. You're very lucky when you wake up vomiting because very often young people die in that situation. They choked to death on their own vomit. Also on September the 18th 2020, John Doe 2 was recorded losing consciousness. He woke briefly, apparently spoke in-guherently and then lost consciousness again. And during these periods of time she is encouraging sexual acts. This includes situations involving teens who are literally too intoxicated to consent. You can't be sent anyway when you're a minor. But if we're going to talk about the area of consent, there are laws which state that if somebody is drunk you can't have sex with them because they are not actually able to consent. People have different mindsets on this as adults whether it's appropriate or inappropriate. But it's a protective mechanism. If you are too drunk to actually say I know what I'm doing, then arguably even if you feel on reflection you put yourself in that situation, legally you are protected. When it comes down to children, they're minors. They can't consent anyway. But then add to that they are fully intoxicated. They don't even know what's happening. And she is telling other young people to go ahead and violate those children.
It's not just a case where she is a mother who realizes that kids are getting a little bit frisky and she's tolerating that sexual behavior among them. No, this is a woman who is directing it. She's encouraging it. And in some instances she literally washed or even responded to it in ways that added to the harm. Of course she'll actually be accused of encouraging voice to sexually assault intoxicated girls. And then after she'd watched that and enjoyed that and got the detail of that, she then helped and sneak out afterwards. And one report even mentions that she personally handed a condom to a boy and then directed him toward a room with a girl who was completely intoxicated. Now that girl was able to get away. She actually locked herself in the bathroom at that point, tried to protect herself. But later that very same day joined the same party. The girl was indeed sexually assaulted. I mean, they are in the Huyens den. Now another time, apparently this excuse of a mother, this sexual predator was literally seen laughing while she witnessed a sexual battery on a bed.
She thinks it's funny. I can't have a human being has the psychological capacity to watch something like that and think it's funny. And in another case, she allegedly brought a drunk teen into a bedroom at her home. And he sexually assaults an intoxicated 14 year old girl in front of her. She's enjoying it. This is her directing what's going to happen. And why do you think she's letting people get so drunk? We all know what happens if you get to a point where you are completely inebriated. First, you feel responsible. I drag that there for the consequences are my fault. It's not your fault. But that's the way the brain plays because you want control of a situation. You think just that we'll have a hadn't done that. Then this wouldn't have happened. It's a way of trying to own the situation so you can change those situations in the future. But actually, you're a victim. You didn't know anything wrong. Aside from get a little bit to drunk and you should be safe, no matter what happens in that moment. But she knows that by getting people drunk, they're going to feel that person responsibility. I did this myself. And secondly, they're probably not going to remember everything because you know what? You're black out if you're on spirits. You go under and you can't quite compute exactly what happened to you.
Now, another party, that same girl, she's so drunk that she almost drowns in a hot tub while she is literally being sexually assaulted, harrowing. And the thing is for kids like this, when they're going back again and again, they feel complicit. They feel that they've colluded with what happened. And that makes it almost impossible to speak out. For a period of time, you're thinking, I don't like what happens to me whilst I'm there, but it's still normalized. Everyone else is doing it. This adult is constructing this environment. So if an adult's doing it, maybe it's okay. Or I like all the fun and the frolics that I have with my friends, I don't like this bit, the assaulting bit, the getting too drunk bit, but the rest of it, I'm enjoying it. That's the way you are at 14. That's what peer pressure does. That's what running with the crowd makes you think like. These are all green victims, but they're not seeing themselves this way. And like I said, she's in a hot tub nearly drowning. And there's a pool there, and all the kids are obviously put in dangerous positions because they are so intoxicated.
Now one of the things that I've said before is that O'Connor uses Snapchat to coordinate some of the secret gatherings. And there's an October 2020 event where she literally rents a cottage. Yeah, she's like, I won't use my own home. Why not just spend a fortune on renting a cottage and inviting everyone around all these new little friends of hers. These kids, what kind of an adult wants to be around children in this way. It just speaks volumes about her nature. And she actually used a Snapchat group to coordinate it called birthday bash. And she even went so far as to say that she was going to need to vet invited girls herself. So she lets the kids that she's going to allow to come. She lets them know about the party, but she also says just keep it secret. Just keep it secret because we want to have a select few who come to this house. And whilst they're talking about inviting one girl because obviously kids want to invite the kids that they know she says, oh no, she can't come. And the reason that she says she can't come is because she doesn't put out a kid you know.
So because there is a young girl who's obviously come to the parties and has remained sexually safe, behaviour wise, maybe not drunk as much, maybe be more observant like I would have been. She is not going to be welcome. She only wants the kids who are going to get involved sexually. And she's very much playing up to the boys here. And I'm not blaming the boys for one moment. Please understand what I'm saying. I'm saying this is an adult female who is taken by the popularity that she's now created for herself in this network. And she believes that to keep that popularity and also to, shall we say, enjoy the thrill of watching children get sexually involved with each other, which is clear she has a predilection for. She doesn't want anybody present who is going to interfere with giving boys what they want. Now like I said, the boys are victim. Where some see heroes and other see egos Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. A fad to some, the future of money to others. We see crypto's trillion dollar swings. The end of jobs or the end of human struggle.
We see the endless funds fueling the AI hype. While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. It's two, but the boys don't feel in that moment, essentially like victims because it's great having girls that you're attracted to have intimacy with you. You're 14. At the end of the day, you have 14 year old compulsions and impulses. It's completely natural. So having this mother orchestrate these possibilities for you, even though when you reflect on it later down the line after the fact of this crime has been considered and you realize, oh my god, I have been horribly abused. And I've also been brought into situations where I acted offensively when I think about my behavior because this woman directed me to do it, you will at that point see the damage. At this point, you just think, are she serving our needs? And again, that's going to cause such conflict and trauma when they analyze their actions down the line.
Now around 12 minor boys and girls actually attend that party and it left $9,000 worth of damages to the actual rental, which again, no boundaries, no concern, no consideration, no safety measures. And she also used Snapchat to maintain very close contact with at least one minor boy because obviously there's something about him that she likes herself. And she messages that one boy multiple times per day basically tries to become his best friend on Snapchat and she is discussing with him which girls he'd like to hook up with. And then if he hooked up with them, she'd want the details, she'd want to know how it was. And that's again, demonstrative of a predator's mindset. She's getting off on the reality that he is going ahead and managed to hook up with this girl that she's provided for him and she wants to know every juicy detail about it. Now the abuse, well it doesn't just finish when the part is end. Some of those victims said that she uses social media apps on the phone to then continue harming or emotionally stressing them.
And parents will describe O'Connor as highly manipulative. The mother of Jane Doe 4 later called her a master manipulator of adults and children. The mother of Jane Doe 6 said that she manipulated victims by contacting them directly through Snapchat and also through phone calls and then going ahead and really taking time to isolate them from the parents because she doesn't want pesky parents getting involved and seeing what's happening. The father of Jane Doe 3, he mentioned her expert skillset and social media hyper manipulation as he put it and just talked about how she manipulated and bribe the victims and also really effectively for a period of time. She discouraged them from ever reporting what had happened and she actually said to them, if anyone finds out I'm going to go to jail. So she's got that right. Which means that she knowingly and willingly is involving herself in illegal actions knowing the consequences and feeling that as you can manipulate those kids to keep quiet she'll get away with it. But wow, if somebody breaches confidentiality then she is screwed. In fact, she would then threaten them and say, look, if you do spread rumors about what we're doing, I am going to cause problems for you.
I will spread rumors about you. And that is very destabilizing for young people because the worst thing that can happen to you is that reputational damage occurs and people start talking about things that you've been accused of when you haven't done them. Now this behavior went on for around a nine to 11 months before she was arrested and she definitely held at least six parties in 2020 and 2021 at her home and other locations. Now, one of the first major red flags that's noticed by parents happens after a 2020 Halloween party and it is harrowing what happens. So there one parent picks up their 14 year old son from the party and finds him in a horrific state. His barefoot, his wet, he is visibly intoxicated and he stinks of alcohol. Then after he passes out, the parents notice that snapchat messages keep just popping up on his phone and they start to look at the messages and they see this group chat in which a user named none, which is actually O'Connor.
This person is asking, how did the party go? They also store the messages that reference prior drinking at a connoisse home. They also find sexualized comments which are harrowing. And they even find messages that suggest O'Connor's checking whether anyone's parents have discovered that she's not being present in the way that they believe that she was present because they think she's overseeing these parties. She's not directing individuals to do certain things. They think she's being that holistic wholesome voice in that scenario and not putting the children in dangerous situations. Also, tellingly, the parents then see that none is deleting snapchat dreads. No, that immediately raises concerns because they know whoever is actually doing this, there are attempts to remove evidence. Now all the parents, they equally become concerned when they begin looking through their children's phones and messages and many of them begin to realize that the horror of the O'Connor isn't just present at the parties, but she's communicating directly with their children.
Two parents find messages in which she is literally coaching a teenage girl, hunter how to lie to her parents. So she can attend the parties. Now that same girl will later disclose abuse at the parties after she's drunk. She says things happen that she didn't want to happen. There's then a significant red flag that also comes from December 19, 2020 and this is terrifying. So this incident near Los Gartars High School happens when a bystander calls 911 and the reason that a bystander calls 911 is because they literally witness a child falling from the back of Shannon O'Connor's SUV. And this boy is not unconscious. So what had actually happened was O'Connor's driving with John Dough 1, 2 and 3 in the car while the boys are drinking alcohol. They then arrive at the Los Gartars High School Park in Laudner. There O'Connor encourages one of the unlicensed miners to drive her SUV while John Dough 2 and John Dough 3 hold on to the back of the vehicle.
What could possibly go wrong with intoxicated youngsters driving a vehicle and hanging on to a vehicle? So you're not surprised to find out that when the SUV's moving, John Dough 2 falls over, hits his head, gets knocked unconscious for around 20 to 30 seconds, believe me that can be catastrophic, impact wise. While John Dough 2 is still unconscious, what does O'Connor and the boys actually try to do? Do they get help? No, they just think, oh, I need to deal with this ourselves, they try to lift them into the SUV, they're not able to. And they just drop him time and time again. Unfortunately, this bystander who is a responsible adult, they go over and say, do you need help? O'Connor tells him to mind his own business. Now at that point, he calls 911 rightly so. The police arrive and the officer sees O'Connor and John Dough 2 inside the SUV and apparently had a large amount of vomit inside. Now at that point, John Dough 2 tells the officer he'd apparently been casick and O'Connor says that she's come to pick him up.
I have no idea how she managed to talk away out of it, but she does. I mean, the smell of the vomit would have been alcohol-laced. I just don't understand why that officer accepted it. Maybe he just didn't want to have to do a report that night. I don't know, but it's bad policing on every single level. Now after that, O'Connor drives the injured John Dough 2 back to her home because she wants him to change into the clothes because he's vomited on himself. She wants to conceal the reality of the injury and then she drops him near his home. So he goes home still intoxicated. He spends the night vomiting, although I would imagine and hazard a guess that's partly to do with the head injury. The same with the intoxication level, he's probably very serious to concuss at that point. He actually almost drowns in a bathtub, has a serious headache the next day, and of course it is confirmed by a doctor that he had suffered a concussion. Now in early 2021, multiple parents have been sending emails to the school about their concerns they have, about intoxication and sexual assaults that were in place now at these parties, but the school haven't actually done anything.
Also, it turns out there has been a criminal and child protective services investigation back in the spring, but the information of that has been kept confidential, so I can't comment on that. But many of the parents believe that the school and the authorities should have stepped in sooner and should have absolutely prevented the abuse from being ongoing. So what we do know is that several months after that SUV incident, after Jane Doe's fours mother contacts Los Gators High School, and this is because her daughter has told her about a concussion incident, is then that the school contacts Oconners son, John Dothry. Now what does he do in that moment? Well, he asks the other two boys to lie, he doesn't want his mother to get into trouble, this is how awful it is for kids in these situations because they love their parents. They don't want their parent getting hurt, they don't want them being taken away from them, they love their parent, doesn't matter that their parent has been doing awful things, they don't see it that way, this is just their mother and they want their mother to be okay. So he gets the boys to lie. So before the boys meet with the high school vice principal, these boys had been schooled in what to say.
In fact, Oconner contacts one of them, a servant says, please lie about the incident and Oconner and her son also provide, it seems, exact statements via Snapchat for the boys to use. And the boys do, they lie. They lie about the alcohol, they lie about her presence, they lie about how that injury actually occurred. Because kids are loyal to their friends and hey, they were having a good time and hey, let's not ruin the status quo, let's not get our friends' moment to trouble. They probably like to, at that point, like I said, they haven't gotten the nuance of not gone through the detail, they've not recognized the consequences are still in the eye of the storm. But local parents, inspired this start hearing more and more stories and the words spreads as they all get more and more concerned. Now interestingly, after these events have played out in California, Oconner moves to Idaho, but the parents in Las Gattas, they don't just walk away passively. In fact, some of the parents are so concerned about the fact that she's moved to another area, they find out where her son is and they actually warn an Idaho mother about what had happened over in California and that mother, then reportedly finds concerning text on her door as phone and basically ends the relationship between her.
And Oconner's family, because they were getting to know each other, she saw texts, snapped up messages, phone calls, and even after she ceased that connection with Oconner, those calls keep coming to a daughter all over the summer and every single one of them is traced back to Oconner. It's a 6th of October, 2021, when the district attorney investigate a file's statement of facts that they have so far and by that stage, they have pulled together a plethora of evidence. This includes victim and parent statements, accounts of the secret pickups, accounts of the intoxication of the injuries of the alleged assaults, and of course the attempts of concealment of what happened, they have Snapchat and text message evidence. And so, they include communications used to arrange gatherings and also that really disturbing coaching of miners of what to say to adults and the talk about the parties, they also have evidence that some video, this includes videos of miners visibly intoxicated beyond comprehension with alcohol stocked in the fridge and Oconner, 100% present.
So, please contact evidence from the SUV Concussion Incident and this is along with the medical evidence of the concussion diagnosis after the incident and also there's an incident recorded of a finger injury that actually required surgery after the Halloween party. So, this is after a 14 year old known as Jane Donne one suffered a really serious broken finger. So, they have more than this, but that's just some of the damning evidence that's mentioned in the reports at the time. Now, we get to October 2021, she gets arrested near voice, Idaho, at this point she is brought back to Santa Clara County jail and she's then held in custody. Now, while she's arrested in Idaho, please find 12 underrated teens at so home. I mean, this woman is unbelievable. It's not like she's realized her crimes moved to Idaho and thought I'd best change her best stop. She's just carrying on in a whole new area. Now, the DA's office, they initially charge you with 39 counts including 12 felony counts of child indangent and sexual battery.
And actually, when it comes down to her playing, she pleads not guilty to all charges from the beginning, which is bizarre because it's all on video and there's so many witnesses and it's evident that she's done what she's done. Now, at the October the 20th, Arrayment, the district attorney makes it clear they want to hold her without bail. They say this woman is still a danger to victim and it is necessary to hold her in jail because she's already fled to Idaho before the initial charges have been filed. Now, the court, they do grant the prosecution's request, they set bail at no bail without prejudice. They also reference that while she was in jail in Idaho awaiting extradition, she had literally called her son and tried to persuade him not to cooperate with the investigation. I mean, that call is evident that she's attempted to dissuade a witness that is witness tampering is illegal. Now, while she is in Santa Clara County jail, prosecutors also relied on a jail court a whole husband. He's now estranged from her. I wonder why? I wonder why he's estranged from this child predator. And during that phone call, she allegedly discussed with drawing cash and also transferring residential property.
So this is also used as part of the prosecution's argument that she might not comply with court orders and that potentially she posed a flight risk. Now, the big argument at the beginning of all of this is whether she could be held in custody before trial as the central felony charges are child endangerment counts rather than conventional violent felony charges. Now, the prosecution's position is that the child endangerment charges are inseparable from violence and serious harm to minors. Also, at some point alongside the prosecution, she was also facing a separate white collar case. So, prosecutors alleged that while she's working as an administrative assistant for our Ruben Networks, she's also running more than $120,000 in unauthorized company card charges. These include charging the company for clothing, limousine rights and alcohol deliveries, generally in the UK, just to put it out there. As somebody who has their own company, I am not even allowed to buy clothes. That I wear on this channel and only wear on this channel, for example, against my company. Can't do it.
It's considered a benefit in kind. You are not allowed to buy clothes with your company money, simple as that. Against HMR Seville's, the idea that I would have a company card and be like, I'm just going to get a limousine. I'm just going to get alcohol. Alcohol is strictly permitted in the US and in the UK when it comes down to claiming expenses. She is just using this as a personal expenditure opportunity. So, she's highly fraudulent. We're talking about a lack of boundaries on every single level with this woman. Now, in January 2022, O'Connor files a motion asking to be released pre-trial. And her defense also tries to reduce the risk argument by saying, look, she no longer has access to victims, her son isn't living with her anymore. He had apparently moved to Texas at this point to live with his father. And they also said she has no history of friends who appear. She'd been accepted into an electronic monitoring house, a rest program, and she could rent a house in Santa Clara County. But the prosecution say, no, they don't want her released. So, we get to a January 18th bail hearing and the court hears statements that are very impactful from victims and the parents strongly oppose her release.
They are saying that at the end of the day, it is terrifying the kids to think that she could be free. So, Jane Doe 4, for example, said O'Connor left her with sickening memories and that she would feel scared and unsafe if she knew that she'd been released. And it was also at this hearing that one of the parents, so the mother of Jane Doe 4, actually called O'Connor a master manipulator of adults and children. The mother of Jane Doe 2 said that she literally feared for her family and said that O'Connor had harassed and intimidated children. Jane Doe 3 said that she literally taught her to lie and went ahead and damnate her relationship with her parents. So, that hearing really helped frame the image that even while under supervision, she was still a threat to society. Now, at another bail hearing on February 3rd, more victims and more parents spoke and apparently O'Connor at this hearing just sat with her back turned, she didn't confront it or face it. The father of Jane Doe 4 said that victims would not feel safe because O'Connor knew where they lived and this was also the hearing where the father of Jane Doe 3 described her alleged expert skill set and social media hyper manipulation.
1 billion percent correct and prosecutors also pointed to internet searches that they'd found on the phone which related to young teenage girls and others appeared to relate to concussion symptoms after the December 2020 SUV incident. And so the prosecution used those searches and argued she understood the sexualized nature of her conduct and also the physical danger that all those teenagers were in that she put them in. Now, with all of that testimony, Judge Johnny Sigo wrote denied her bail. The judge said that the violence had been inflicted on minor victims who had been injured and sexually assaulted under her direction or supervision. He also said there was no reason to believe that she was. Where some see heroes and other see egos, Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. While others follow the noise, we follow the money. Learn more at Bloomberg.com. It's going to respect an order to remain in our home or to comply with protective orders she had acted highly deceptively in her life per se.
Now, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wise said after this, we believe this decision is the right decision to keep the public safe. She also said in response to the arguments when it defends that just because the defendant didn't personally push the victim or cause the violence. The fact that she orchestrated it, say it all up, watched it happen, knew the effect of her actions and then kept going, shows that these felonies qualify as acts of violence. Now her and a defense attorney's obviously go ahead and appeal decision, but by April 2000 and 22, they lose that appeal and she remains in custody on no bail. The case did actually move slower than a lot of people expected and Rebecca Wise told the reporters the DA's office was still getting all of the discovery. So that meant that all of the evidence, including the paper evidence as well as interviews, etc, needed to be collected and also reviewed before going to trial. She called the materials voluminous and she said that the process was just purely frustrating for the families because they did want to see some movement on the case.
They wanted to see justice for their children, but equally they have to balance that. They want to go to court, they want to take this trial and they want to make sure this woman goes down, they have to have all of their ducks in order. Now after the court of appeal rejected the petition for bail, she then saw a review in the California Supreme Court, they did grant the review. However, they also agreed that she shouldn't be held without bail. They agreed that the felony child endangerment could qualify as a felony involving acts of violence for bail purposes. Now you won't believe this, but all this is going on while she is knee deep in charges, really serious charges. In April, prosecutors alleged that O'Connor had wait for it, tried to organize a drug smuggling scheme while in custody. I mean why wouldn't you, at the end of the day, infer a penny, infer a pound, you know, why is this woman doing this? Someone has no boundaries whatsoever. So according to the prosecution, O'Connor had discussed smuggling meth and fettemy into jail through happy cards with a woman she had been involved with in custody.
I mean, she's relentless as she'll give her that. I'll give her that. She plans and she works that plan. Doesn't matter how deplorable that planet. She is in it. She's fully invested. And it's unsurprising to me that at this very same time, the defense begin talking about seeking an offer from the court to try to resolve the case. Because they're obviously thinking the deeper this goes, the darker she gets, the bigger problems are going to have resencing. Now we get to May 2023. And at this point, the local news reports that a parent had been told by the DA's office that the court had indicated an offer of 17 years and four months. Also with sex offender registration for 10 years, if she pleads guilty to all 39 charges. Now most families that hope the offer would be as lengthy as possible. And many of them didn't consider it that long, but they did hope that she'd accept it. Because of course that means the children are not going to have to testify again. But O'Connor doesn't. She's like, no. No, no. I don't want that sentence. I don't want that unbelievably lenient sentence.
Why would I have lenient sentence? Why go for lenient sentence when instead I can chance going to courtfully not guilty and just falling on the sword in this way? But like I said, when you're somebody like O'Connor, you don't think the laws and rules apply to you. She doesn't really think she's done anything wrong. I just organized a few parties. Call a little bit too close to my kids' friends. And essentially she's willing to put those children through horrific circumstances of having to testify because she doesn't resolve it. She makes it clear. I want to trial. Now while she's a waiting trial in October 2022, she actually gets quite badly assaulted in a jail dorm. So five female inmates beat her up with the hands and the feet. It's about 16 seconds before deputies enter and separate them. O'Connor apparently didn't fight back. I mean, kids are more her every while they. And she ends up getting taken to hospital for treatment. She's still for the head injury and a concussion. She's got bruising on her ribs and her back. She also got a broken nose. She's then returned to the facility.
Now the women's names were Erica Amaya, Danielle Chavez, Sophia Bigill, Anita Queras and Mara Gina, Gardia. And they are basically accused of assault at this point. And they're accused of means of forced likely to produce great bodily injury. And one of the attackers was just very upfront and said, listen, we did a attacker because of what she did to those kids that she put kids in danger. And they decided that they didn't want her inside of their part because of those crimes. So they sought to make sure she was no longer in their part. You don't want to abuse kids. Women take that very seriously, particularly when they're inside and they have access to you. You're the lowest of the low when you do those things. Now in November 2023, a Santa Clara County criminal grand jury in Ditesa on 63 counts. They described the indictments as 20 felony and 43 misdemean accounts. Now, at that point, she please not guilty to all of them. So her trial didn't go ahead until January of 2026 and it lasted 16 weeks.
16 weeks, I said, big trial. It included 41 witnesses. 20 of those were young adults. They were minors, of course, at the time of those alleged crimes. It's been hanging over their heads all these years. They've gone from being kids to adults in that time. And the prosecution's opening theory was that O'Connor had created the secretive alcohol soaked environment for minors and used her cool mum status to access and to influence freshmen at Los Gatos High School. And they said, for many freshmen in 2020, it's the first experience with alcohol. And so of course, it ends in overconsumption, vomiting, black owls. They say the defendant groomed the children, normalised sex, encouraged hookups and sexual behaviour. Now O'Connor never testifies because obviously she can't. It would be clearly easy to rip it to pieces. But she just managed to somehow have a conversation with a news reporter in a jailhouse call and she said, I am trying to be a concerned mother.
Well, that's injured. I mean, we're all doing it. Aren't we? We're all doing it. We're all being concerned parents. And so what's your description of a concerned parent? My description of a concerned parent is to have boundaries to make sure my children are safe, to make sure I'm looking after their mental health, feeding them well, making sure I create an environment which allows them to thrive. What's your description of looking out for your children and being a concerned parent? Well, I like to bring vodka into the equation and sexually inappropriate direction. And I like to be one of their mates whilst also putting them in highly dangerous situations. That's the kind of concerned parent I am, said no one who's a concerned parent ever. She said, I knew that these kids were drinking. I knew these kids were having sexual relationships, whatever that might be. I was just trying to make sure that they were being safe. People can look at a few things different ways. No, they can't. They can look at you as a massive sexual predator. Now her defence essentially tries to dismantle the prosecution bit by bit, arguing that each count doesn't apparently meet the required elements for child endangerment or the other charges.
Now the teenage victims and their parents, they're forced to testify yet again. So Jane, no four, who's 14 at the time. But now 20, she goes first. Jane, no six. She also gives evidence. She says that social environments and the gatherings with misogynistic. She describes her conno pressuring teens to sneak out to drink heavily to hook up. And she also testified about Jane, no fours deterioration after the parties. So the mother of Jane, no four testified that her daughter first went to her conno's home for what appeared to be a normal school science project with Ocona's son. And she said the house was fancy. It was beautiful. Ocona's son seemed like a nice kid. I'm sure he is. But she later described noticing changes in a daughter. So she was tired. She was with joy and she had bruises. And literally it transformed her world. Now by late February, 2026, the prosecutors had given a meticulous two day closing argument. Just breaking down the alleged alcohol and sex fueled teen parties. And their call message was clear.
She was responsible, not merely because the alcohol was present, but because she created encouragement and she managed the environment. So bear in mind, this is a woman who was offered a plea deal of 17 years. So when it comes to March the 4th, 2026 and the jury finding Ocona guilty of 48 of the 63 charges, she's looking at a really stern sentence. Now the convictions included charges related to child endangerment, misdemeanor sexual battery and two sexual penetration battery counts. Her attorney said that she was crushed and very disappointed. Really? Oh, I wonder why? I wonder why? You could have taken that 17 year plea deal and been on the sex offenders registered for 10 years. But when the defense is asked to say more, he says, I don't think I can say it any better than that. She's crushed and better disappointed. Now after the verdict, George Elizabeth Peterson began considering the highly aggravating factors that could obviously increase Ocona's sentence.
And she found true multiple factors for her 16 felony convictions. Now that ruling basically gives the judge the option of imposing maximum terms. Bear in mind, one of the aggravating factors is judge had to weigh up is that one of the victims spent 35 days in an impatient treatment center for addiction, depression and anxiety because of what happened. Bear in mind, there was so many victim impacts. I can't cover them all here, but I will tell you one that really stands out. One victim said that she met Ocona when she was 11 and she had recently found a suicide note from her childhood that literally included Ocona's name. She said, that is the impact you had on my life. So it nearly took her life. Also, Jane Doe A and Jane Doe 9 said, when people call you a monster, peed about rapist, they had it rights. I mean, such powerful words. Now interestingly, on May the 28th, 2026, before her sentence was imposed, I don't know whether she's doing this because she's thinking, please, George, don't send me to hell.
Ocona decided to address the court for the first time. So she hasn't spoken in court before this. And during this, she said, I am responsible for the harmful situation that I put your daughters and sons through. But as I look at you all today, I hope you can find some comfort knowing that I have been punished and will continue to for years to come. She also said, I'm sorry for all of you and what I put you through. I am ashamed and I face every day knowing that I was the cause of so many people's anguish. I want you all to know that I live every day, wishing I could take everything back. Really? I mean, you went not guilty. Sorry, can we just acknowledge that? How can you meet any of that? You went not guilty. You've been found guilty, but you said you weren't guilty. So how are you now saying this? How can you have any of this guilt and shame? You said you were not guilty. It's ludicrous. She also denied the fact that she orchestrated sexual misconduct between the miners. And she insisted that she had no sexual inclinations towards miners and said that she herself was a victim of sexual abuse.
We don't believe that you don't have inclinations or predilections because you were very much engaged with getting them to perform sexually. And she also has the audacity to actually suggest that the abuse by her husband had had an impact on her. And Judge Peterson said there was no credible evidence whatsoever that her husband had abused her in any way. But let's just throw him under the bus. Why don't you? Judge Elizabeth Peterson sentenced her to her mind. She's going to get just over 17 years. 35 years and 10 months in prison. That is literally the maximum allowed. It was the worst outcome for this woman. DA Jeff Rosen said many people call this defendant the Las Gatos party mom. This isn't some fun parent giving sips of wine, spritz's, the kids. She facilitated dangerous and drunken sex acts with these children. She risked their lives and damage their psyches. She's not a party mom. Shannon O'Connor is a convicted felon. He also said I listened to the testimony of several victims and their parents and heard these words and phrases over and over again predator manipulated groomed, hyper sexualized, violated, betrayed, traumatized, isolated, intimidated, harassed.
Made me feel small, suffered severe anxiety and depression, contemplated suicide, not over it. Lifelong impact forever changed me stole my innocence, took away my childhood, but I've also heard resilient strong survivors. And I think that's so key isn't it? She is somebody who has done immeasurable harm. But because of the support of the court and the prosecutors and the parents, hopefully those children even those so badly damaged they ended up in an impatient facility will heal and will find their way forward. Also, just to add to this woman's horrific behavior, she's been named in defamation lawsuit linked to allegations and rumours circulating among local families so it's alleged that she went ahead and helped spread claims that a local minor was a rapist and a sexual predator. It also added that this targeted campaign began around May 2019 and O'Connor and listed her own son for the task. Now, she did fire back through her attorney saying the case shouldn't be allowed to go forward because what she said, if she said those things at all, were all expressions of opinion.
Expressions of opinion. It's okay then, she's go around, spread really debilitating harmful information that's on true about a kid, rooming a life, crack on. I mean the one thing we can say is she's consistent, she really doesn't give a crap about whose life she ruins, whether it's through rumour or through action. So she certainly seems to be dedicated to that kind of action. Horrifying isn't it? Like I said, the fact that she's trying to apologize is saying that she didn't mean any of this to happen and that she feels really bad about it, but that she went no guilty and put them all through that harrowing case. She should be exactly where she is. At least we know she's now likely to be serving the rest of her natural life in prison. The streets are going to be a little bit safer. She didn't just harm one kid, which is bad enough. She harmed dozens. Let that sink in. One predator, dozens of victims, hundreds of family members impacted because of her callous actions.
Enjoy your time inside. I imagine it's going to be pretty horrific for you. No one likes a child predator, not me. Not any of you listening to me. And certainly not those you're going to be sharing in cells with. I'm going to hear thoughts guys. See you again next time. Look after yourselves. Let's see. We're some see heroes and other see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. A fad to some, the future of money to others. We see crypto's trillion dollar swings. The end of jobs, or the end of human struggle. We see the endless funds fueling the AI hype. While others follow the noise. We follow the money. Learn more at bloomer.com.
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