A rich Connecticut lady, whose criminal case file was hidden from public view, was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday for surreptitiously filming three individuals, including a juvenile, engaging in sexual activity.
Hadley Palmer, age 54, of Greenwich, was handcuffed and brought out of the state courthouse in Stamford by judicial marshals. She declined to speak on her behalf during the hearing, instead answering the judge’s multiple yes-or-no questions.
The Connecticut Department of Correction supplied this undated photo of Hadley Palmer. / AP
According to the Greenwich Free Press, Palmer is prohibited from having contact with an unidentified female victim in the case for 30 years.
In response to concerns from The Associated Press, Judge John Blawie sealed Palmer’s case file earlier this year. On Tuesday, Blawie ruled that the file stay secret, keeping the details of the allegations included in an arrest warrant hidden from public view.
Blawie had earlier concluded that the privacy of the victims exceeded the public’s interest in viewing the case records, and that it was not practicable to redact all of the documents to preserve the identity of the victims. The AP disagrees, stating that documentation in several previous sex crime cases in Connecticut have been suppressed to protect the victims.
Palmer, the daughter of renowned hedge fund pioneer Jerrold Fine, is now divorcing her venture capitalist husband, Bradley Palmer, and the couple has four children, according to the Greenwich Free Press.
Internet photographs depict her at charity galas and other social activities. Open government activists and defense attorneys unaffiliated with the case deemed the sealing of her case file to be uncommon.
Palmer must register as a sex offender for ten years and serve twenty years of probation following his prison term, as stipulated under the plea agreement-based punishment.
In January, she pled guilty to three charges of voyeurism and one count of risk of damage to a minor, all crimes committed between 2017 and 2018. This year she had already served 90 days in prison. The agreed-upon punishment range included a minimum of 90 days in jail and a maximum of five years in prison.
Paul Ferencek, the state’s attorney for Stamford and Norwalk, revealed additional facts about the crimes on Tuesday, including that the victims were secretly videotaped in various states of undress, including completely naked. According to him, Palmer and an unknown third party viewed the films for sexual enjoyment.
Ferencek said that the victims did not want Palmer to serve any further time in prison. Blawie granted one of the female victims’ applications for a 30-year criminal protection order prohibiting Palmer from having contact with her.
Clearly, this is a disturbing factual scenario, stated Ferencek. I believe it is a reasonable disposition.
Tuesday, the attorneys for the victims declined to comment, and none of the victims spoke in court.
Michael Meehan, Palmer’s attorney, deemed the penalty fair.
Meehan stated, “She has accepted responsibility for her acts.” This person is extremely compassionate, loving, and honest.
Blawie approved the plea agreement and stated, “Make no mistake about it, the defendant is paying for her misdeeds.”
Since her arrest in October of 2021, Palmer’s case file has been sealed from public access. On the day of her arrest, she submitted an application for a special probation program that immediately seals offenders’ files.
Palmer was ineligible for the program due to the severity of two of the initial charges: using a juvenile in an indecent act and possessing child pornography. As part of the plea deal, these charges were dismissed.
Palmer subsequently withdrew his application for the probation program, but Blawie kept the case file confidential.
Palmer also wanted that the courtroom be closed throughout sections of Tuesday’s sentence, including her own words, which was uncommon and opposed by the Associated Press; however, her attorneys abandoned the motion at the last minute.
Palmer’s name and court case numbers frequently disappeared from the state court system’s website in the months following her arrest, adding to the obscurity surrounding her crimes. As her application for the probation program was ongoing, her name and case number displayed on the website only on the days she was scheduled to appear in court, unlike other cases involving the probation program that appear regularly on the website.
Court authorities were unaware of why Palmer’s information occasionally vanished from the internet.
People accused with sex crimes and crimes against minors appear before judges in Connecticut’s courts nearly every week, and their case files are not sealed. Generally, arrest warrants including comprehensive allegations are accessible to the public, although the identities of the alleged victims may be deleted or substituted with pseudonyms.
Current News
»Socialite jailed for photographing 3 individuals, including a child«