The document also shows that O’Connor communicated with the teenagers on Snapchat, encouraging them to lie to their parents and discussing their sexual interests. She bullied and threatened to spread rumors about minors who broke her rule of not telling anyone about the parties.
Throughout the trial, O’Connor’s attorney, Stephen Prekoski, focused on disputing the most serious felony charges, including sexual assault-related charges, annoying and molesting a child charges, witness dissuasion and felony child endangerment.
“It’s obviously not the result we were hoping for,” Prekoski told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday. He noted that O’Connor received four favorable verdicts, but said those were not the charges the defense considered their highest priority.
O’Connor was arrested in 2021 in Idaho and was extradited to Santa Clara County, where she has remained in jail for four and a half years. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
She did not testify at trial. However, in December, she told The Mercury News she intended to create a “safe space” for teenagers struggling during pandemic lockdowns. She acknowledged poor judgment in allowing alcohol but denied criminal intent, arguing that the teens were incentivized to blame her in order to avoid consequences themselves.
With the guilty verdicts, O’Connor now faces decades in prison and will have to register as a sex offender. She will be sentenced later this year.
