Former Orange County Elementary School Teacher Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material

SANTA ANA, California – A former Orange County elementary school teacher and high school wrestling coach pleaded guilty today to possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including at least one video portraying masochistic sexual conduct involving a child.

Richard O’Connor, 45, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

O’Connor formerly was employed as a fourth-grade teacher at Crescent Elementary School in Anaheim and volunteered as a boys’ wrestling coach at Canyon High School, also located in Anaheim. He is not accused of victimizing students.

According to his plea agreement, in October 2022, law enforcement served a federal search warrant on Apple Inc. for the contents of O’Connor’s Apple iCloud account.

A forensic review of O’Connor’s iCloud account identified at least 81 videos and 158 images of CSAM. O’Connor admitted in his plea agreement that several of the videos and images of CSAM in his iCloud account depicted infants or toddlers as well as violent, sadistic, or masochistic conduct.

O’Connor further admitted in his plea agreement that he knew that at least three of the videos that he possessed depicted minors engaged in sexual conduct. He also admitted to possessing at least one video that portrayed a child engaged in sadistic or masochistic conduct, particularly bondage.

United States District Judge David O. Carter scheduled a December 18 sentencing hearing, at which time O’Connor will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the court that O’Connor be sentenced to a term of imprisonment no higher than five years.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated this case.

Assistant United States Attorney Melissa S. Rabbani of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.