CT socialite Hadley Palmer sentenced to prison after filming naked minors

A Connecticut socialite has been sentenced to one year in prison and will have to be on the sex offender registry for 10 years for filming minors naked at her seaside mansion. 

Hadley Palmer, 54, of Belle Haven, will also face 20 years of probation after finishing her year in prison after she agreed to a plea deal in January, where she pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and risk of injury to a minor. 

In addition to her sentence, Palmer is also barred from making contact with an unnamed female victim in the case for 30 years. She has already spent 90 days in the state prison for women in Niantic.

The higher charges - employing a minor in an obscene performance and possession of child pornography - were dropped as part of the hedge fund daughter's deal. 

She pleaded guilty to 'knowingly photographing, filming and recording three individuals' in 2017 and 2018 without their knowledge at her $10million mansion. 

The socialite did not speak at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, besides answering yes and no questions. 

Her lawyer, Michael Meehan, who called the mom-of-four 'very caring [and] loving,' said the sentencing was fair and that she was 'taking responsibility for her actions.' 

Many details surrounding her case have been sealed, with critics calling the move unusual.

However, according to the Stamford Advocate, it was revealed at the socialite's sentencing on Tuesday that the victims in the case had requested Palmer serve no further jail time, and that she shared the illicit recordings with an 'unnamed third party.'

Hadley Palmer, 54, of Belle Haven, was sentenced to one year in prison, 10 years on the sex offenders registry and 20 years probation after pleading guilty in January. In addition to her sentence, Palmer is also barred from making contact with an unnamed female victim in the case for 30 years

Some speculated that her husband had turned her in after his divorce papers revealed he wanted access to her social media to see if she was cheating 

A mysterious man (pictured), who was not identified, was seen hugging and kissing Palmer inside the conference room before the sentencing 

Her lawyers were seen leaving the courthouse after sentencing 

A mysterious man, who was not identified, was seen hugging and kissing Palmer in the conference room prior to the sentence. He was seen folding his coat's hood toward his face to hide his identity. 

The Associated Press (AP) argued the records could have redacted or changed the children's names, as is typical in the state's sex crime cases, to make the documents open to the public. 

It remains unclear exactly what Palmer did with the minors, as Judge John Blawie ruled in February that the entire file should be sealed to protect the victims' identity and that opening it while redacting some of the documents would inevitably lead to the minor victims' being identified, one of whom police said was at least 15 years old.

'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,' he wrote.

After her arrest in October, Hadley filed an application for a special probation program known as 'accelerated rehabilitation' which immediately sealed the file.

It is a program reserved for first-time offenders. It can be applied to defendants charged with Class C felonies, but only with 'good cause.

She pleaded guilty to voyeurism and risk of an injury to a minor in January for filming inside her $10 million home (pictured) 

The lavish home had great views of the seaside and tons of natural light 

Legal experts told the Associated Press - whose reporters opposed the seal - at the time that it was a highly unusual move for her file to be sealed immediately and many say she did not even qualify for accelerated rehabilitation.

They demanded to know why she was able to hide from public view, when other defendants have not. 

Many have wondered if Bradley exposed his wife's doing to police, after divorce documents revealed he sought to look at her social media for evidence she been romantically or sexually involved with someone. 

The divorce records indicated that wealthy financier had grown suspicious of Palmer. 

Bradley had filed a motion back in July to get her social media accounts, along with any videos or photographs she may have sent to anyone she had been romantically or sexually involved with, according to a February report by The New York Times. 

It is still unknown what exactly led to Palmer's arrest. 

Palmer (pictured at an Alzheimer's gala with her husband Brad Palmer, right) pleaded guilty to 'knowingly photographing, filming and recording three individuals' in 2017 and 2018 without their knowledge at her $10million mansion