Socialite gets jail, probation on voyeurism charges

STAMFORD — A 54year-old Greenwich socialite was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail, 20 years probation and she must register as a sex offender for 10 years, at least four of them publicly, on voyeurism charges, a state Superior Court judge has ruled.

Hadley Palmer, who lives in a multimillion-dollar seaside mansion in the

Belle Haven neighborhood in Greenwich, was arrested last year on charges that included employing a minor in an obscene performance, conspiracy to employ a minor in an obscene performance and seconddegree child pornography, all felonies, police said. She pleaded guilty Jan. 19 in state Superior Court in Stamford to three counts of voyeurism and one count of risk of injury to a minor — also felonies — as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

The details of Palmer's case have never been released, but they involve secretly filming three people — including a minor — in 2017.

At her sentencing Tuesday, State's Attorney Paul Ferencek revealed that the 54-year-old had shared the illicit recordings to “arouse her sexual desire and that of an unnamed third party.”

“Obviously this is an upsetting factual situation,” Ferencek said Tuesday.

Palmer spent 90 days in the York Correctional Institution, the state prison for women in Niantic, as part of a plea agreement with state prosecutors. Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Cummings said at the time the state had stipulated in the agreement that Palmer would serve prison time before her

to ensure that she served at least the minimum sentence possible. She could have been sentenced to up to five years on the charges.

Ferencek added Tuesday that he felt the one-year sentence, along with probation and sex offender registration, was “sufficient” considering that the victims in the case had requested Palmer serve no further jail time.

Palmer will be required to register as a sex offender publicly for four years. After four years, Palmer can petition the court to move to private registration on one count of voyeurism, or to receive total exemption for the other two counts for which she had pleaded guilty.

Criminal defense attorney Michael Meehan, who represents Palmer, said his client was prepared to “accept responsibility” for her actions.

“She is extremely remorseful for her conduct,” Meehan said. “From our perspective, justice is being served.”

Before accepting the agreement between the state and the defense, Judge John Blawie said he believed Palmer was at “low risk” of reoffending.

“I do believe the plea agreement is in the service of justice,” Blawie said.

In addition to the sentence, Blawie also placed a 30-year criminal protective order on Palmer, which prevents her from making contact with an unnamed female victim in the case.

Though Palmer pleaded guilty, little is known about the charges against her. Blawie sealed her case in February over objections filed by the Associated Press, citing the need to protect victims.

According to the Associsentencing ated Press, the move to seal the case was considered unusual by open government advocates and defense lawyers.

The AP cited Connecticut's chief public defender, Christine Perra Rapillo, who said criminal case files sealings are unusual. Routinely, people charged with serious crimes against children appear before judges and their case files aren't sealed. Arrest warrants are generally available to the public, although the names of the victims may be redacted or replaced with pseudonyms.

“I've never had a case where I've moved to seal the file,” she told the AP. “It's not a practice that you usually see in criminal court. The presumption in all courts, particularly criminal courts, is that the proceedings are open.”