Hadley Palmer of Connecticut convicted of voyeurism

A wealthy Connecticut woman went from celebrity to registered sex offender on Tuesday when she was sentenced to a year in prison for secretly filming a minor and others at her ritzy oceanfront mansion.

Hadley Palmer, 54, faces 10 years on the sex offender registry and 20 years on probation after striking a plea deal and confessing to the charges in January – even though details of her case have been mysteriously kept from the public.

Palmer did not speak at her sentencing in Stamford Superior Court except to answer yes and no questions, but her attorney called the punishment fair.

“She took responsibility for her actions,” defense attorney Michael Meehan said of Palmer, who has been behind bars for 90 days. “This is a very caring, loving and genuine person.”

Palmer, a mother of four from a wealthy family, admitted that from 2017 to 2018 she filmed people nude or in their underwear with the “intent to arouse or to arouse sexual desire in such a person.” to satisfy [Palmer] or any other person.”

Although she pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and causing harm to a minor on January 19, further details of the allegations against her remain a mystery.

Palmer’s file remains sealed in a move that advocates of open government say is highly unusual. The Associated Press argued that Palmer’s notes may have been released with the victims’ names or changed to false names to protect their privacy, as is typical of Connecticut sex crimes cases.

But Judge John Blawie sided to keep the details of the case largely hidden from the public, though he denied a defense request to close the court during parts of the sentencing and trial, the AP reported.

Palmer was arrested in October 2021 and quickly placed in an accelerated rehabilitation program that requires cases to be sealed. But the charges against her were so serious that she shouldn’t have been eligible for the program, according to the AP.

The two highest charges against her – employing a minor in an obscene performance and possession of child pornography – were dropped as part of her plea deal.

Palmer is the daughter of hedge fund founder Jerrold Fine and is in the process of divorcing venture capitalist Bradley Palmer.

With mail wires