San Luis Obispo County jury convicts X-ray technician of sexual battery

July 30, 2026

John Stephen O’Brien

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A San Luis Obispo County jury convicted a local X-ray technician of misdemeanor sexual battery over a 2024 incident involving unwanted touching of a patient at a medical office.

The jury found that John Stephen O’Brien, 47, willfully and unlawfully touched an intimate part of a patient against her will for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification and sexual abuse while he was working as an X-ray technician. 

During a seven-day trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the victim went in for an X-ray on her back and needed assistance tying her gown. After the X-rays were completed, O’Brien offered to untie the grown, and the victim agreed. O’Brien then touched and rubbed the victim’s back, kissed her back, pressed his erection against her back and reached around the front of her body in an embrace during which he grabbed and squeezed her breasts twice, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.

The woman reported the incident to the medical office, as well as to law enforcement, the day it occurred.

When interviewed by police the following day, O’Brien admitted he grabbed the victim’s breasts. However, he claimed she had come onto him.

During the trial, O’Brien claimed the victim’s movements and body position were an invitation for the sexual touching. The jury rejected the claim and convicted him of sexual battery.

Jurors also heard from another female victim who received an X-ray in 2016. This victim testified that O’Brien engaged in similar conduct, including unwanted touching of her private parts. This testimony was allowed under a provision of the Evidence Code that allows for certain uncharged prior conduct to be admitted as evidence when a judge rules that it is permissible for a particular purpose.

“Patients place extraordinary trust in medical professionals, and that trust is especially important when a patient is in a vulnerable position during treatment,” District Attorney Dan Dow said in a statement. “This verdict holds the defendant accountable for violating that trust and for the unlawful sexual abuse of a patient who did nothing to invite this conduct.”

O’Brien is facing a maximum sentence of one year in county jail. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30 in the courtroom of Judge Michael Frye.