[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A wealthy mom of four in Connecticut has pleaded guilty to the disturbing crime of filming minors without their consent inside of her multimillion-dollar home.
According to multiple outlets, Hadley Palmer entered the guilty plea to three counts of voyeurism and one count of risk of injury to a minor in the state Superior Court in Stamford on January 19. As part of a plea bargain with prosecutors, more serious charges the 53-year-old faced were dropped, including employing a minor in an obscene performance, which is a class A felony, conspiracy to employ a minor in an obscene performance, and second-degree possession of child sex abuse imagery, according to a shocking report in The New York Times.
Per the outlet, a Greenwich Police Department spokesman said the three victims were minors in 2017 and 2018 when the crimes happened. At least one of them was 15 years old or younger at the time. According to the Associated Press, court documents revealed that the charges against Palmer stemmed from when she filmed the victims naked or in their underwear with the “intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of such person or any other person.” Court records show she was arrested on October 25, 2021.
Innerestingly, it turns out the $10 million estate in Belle Haven, Greenwich where the felonies were committed was also where high school student Martha Moxley was murdered by Michael Skakel in 1975.
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Palmer — who is in the middle of a divorce with her husband of 28 years, venture capitalist Brad Palmer — now faces between 90 days and five years in prison. The socialite is also required to register as a sex offender. People reports that the online court records say she has already started serving the minimum of 90 days in jail on February 4 at the York Correctional Institution in Niantic but is expected to be sentenced on August 1.
It’s unclear how Palmer’s crime became known to authorities. Her file, which included the arrest warrant affidavits, was sealed from the public on February 1, the Associated Press reports. Judge John Blawie wrote in his ruling to seal the records:
“Between 2017 and 2018, the defendant knowingly photographed, filmed and recorded certain individuals without their knowledge or consent, and under circumstances where those individuals were not in plain view, and had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and at least one photograph taken by the defendant depicted a person who was a minor.”
But that was as much information as he was willing to put out.
Additionally, The New York Times reports that Dr. Jerome Brodlie, an 83-year-old psychologist in Greenwich, was arrested in December and charged with failure to report abuse, neglect, or injury of a child in connection with the case. However, his files have also been sealed.
Hmm…
The Stamford Advocate reports that the legal move happened after Palmer applied for accelerated rehabilitation — which normally requires the cases to be sealed. Her attorney also argued that the case details should be kept away from the public since the information could hurt the victims and have a “prejudicial effect” on Palmer’s sentencing.
However, a longtime reporter for the Associated Press, Dave Collins, noted at the hearing on February 1 that the documents could be redacted like any other case involving crimes against children in order to protect the victims while allowing the public to know the details about Palmer’s allegations. He also said that sealing files was just a way for wealthy defendants to protect themselves, adding:
“The appearance is almost as if this is a second-tier of justice, where some people keep things secret. The public needs to know how these cases are handled and adjudicated. Everybody else’s case is online. Why isn’t Mrs. Palmer’s case?”
So this isn’t about protecting victims but about protecting this rich defendant? Great. Judge Blawie responded:
“There is no two-tiered justice.”
Well, that’s just obviously not true. Just the capacity to hire better lawyers makes all the difference, as we’ve seen recently in the Britney Spears case.
We guess we’ll have to see what happens next with this case in August — if it doesn’t get completely buried under a pile of money that is.
[Image via Connecticut Department of Correction]
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