A former elementary school teacher and high school wrestling coach from Orange County, Richard O’Connor, has pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material, including violent and sadistic conduct. O’Connor, who used to teach fourth grade at Crescent Elementary School in Anaheim, was not accused of victimizing any of his students while serving as a coach at Canyon High School.
In October 2022, law enforcement officials served a warrant for O’Connor’s iCloud account, where they found hundreds of pictures and videos of child pornography. One of the videos showed “masochistic sexual conduct involving a child,” according to the Department of Justice.
O’Connor admitted that some of the files he possessed included images of infants and toddlers, as well as “violent, sadistic or masochistic conduct.” He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2023, and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. However, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the court that O’Connor’s sentence be no higher than five years. He will also have to register as a sex offender.
