Au Pair awarded £2,000,000 in damages against a Staten Island family, after boss filmed her with camera hidden in smoke alarm

Kelly Andrade, 25, sued Michael Esposito, 35, for illegally filming her while she lived with him and his family in New York’s Staten Island

Suspicious of her boss frequently tinkering with the smoke detector in her bedroom, Andrade investigated the gadget and discovered a hidden camera inside, containing a memory card filled with hundreds of recordings

Many of the videos captured the nanny in vulnerable, intimate moments, often when she was undressing or in the nude.

Esposito, a father-of-four was arrested after Andrade claimed he tried to break her door down when he realized she had discovered the device and the memory card inside crammed with ‘hundreds’ of clips

Esposito was charged with illegal surveillance but avoided jail time in the criminal proceedings by agreeing to two years of probation and mandatory counseling

Dissatisfied with the ‘slap on the wrist,’ Andrade now married and living in NJ, filed a civil lawsuit in Manhattan, seeking damages

Jury in civil suit awarded Andrade $780,000 in emotional distress against Esposito and his wife Danielle, plus $2,000,000 in punitive damages

25-year-old au pair has been awarded $2.78million after her fast food mogul boss secretly recorded nude videos of her by hiding a camera inside a smoke detector

A live-in nanny has been awarded $2.78million after her fast food mogul boss secretly recorded nude videos of her by hiding a camera inside a smoke detector.
25-year-old Colombian Au Pair Kelly Andrade, sued fast food chain owner ,Michael Esposito, 35, for allegedly filming her while she lived with him and his family in New York’s Staten Island.
The dad-of-four was arrested after the au pair claimed he tried to break her door down when he realized she had discovered the device and the memory card inside crammed with ‘hundreds’ of clips.

Kelly Andrade sued her former employer Michael Esposito when she discovered that he planted a hidden camera in her room, secretly filming her while she was working as a live in nanny with his family in Staten Island, NY

A Manhattan jury has now awarded the Andrade $780,000 in emotional distress damages against Esposito and his wife Danielle, plus $2,000,000 in punitive damages against him.
Esposito, who owns three LaRosa Grill franchises, was taken into custody on suspicion of illegal surveillance, which carries a maximum sentence of four years.
He was later released on the condition that he completes two years of probation and counseling.
A sentence which Andrade’s attorney previously described as a ‘slap on the wrist’.

Andrade was awarded $780,000 in emotional distress damages against Esposito and his wife Danielle, plus $2,000,000, [photo], in punitive damages. In the earlier criminal trial, the voyeur avoided jail time by agreeing to two years of probation and mandatory counseling

After sentencing Andrade maintains: ‘It’s not enough for the whole situation I’ve been through these three years. It’s not enough.
‘I was angry because the damage that he caused me is irreversible.’
In her lawsuit, the Colombian national described spending hundreds of hours training after being hired by Cultural Care Au Pair and sent to work in the US in 2021
Initially she was thrilled at the opportunity to learn English while working in America, the nanny said.
She became increasingly suspicious several weeks into the job after frequently seeing Esposito tinkering with the smoke detector in the bedroom they had given her, saying it ‘was constantly being re-positioned’.

Following Andrade’s escape, Esposito was arrested for illegal surveillance, facing a four-year prison sentence. Instead in the criminal proceedings he escaped with a ‘slap on the wrist’. She filed a civil suit and was awarded a multi-million settlement

She investigated the detector and discovered a hidden camera inside, containing a memory card filled with hundreds of recordings. Many of the videos captured the nanny in vulnerable, intimate moments, often when she was undressing or in the nude.
Once she found the device, Esposito arrived at the house within minutes, heightening her fear: “He seemed very nervous and he seemed very worried when he arrived at the house,” Andrade recalls.
He started banging on her bedroom door. Concerned for her safety, she quickly escaped through a window as Esposito continued banging on the door.
Following her escape, Esposito was arrested on charges of illegal surveillance, a crime that could have led to a four-year prison sentence.
However, he ultimately avoided jail time by agreeing to two years of probation and mandatory counseling. Despite this leniency in the criminal proceedings, the legal battle did not end there. It prompted the victim to file a civil suit.
Despite the huge compensatory ruling, Andrade now living in New Jersey with her husband, believes the compensation does not adequately address her pains.
The trial, she says, forced her to confront painful memories she had long sought to suppress, adding that by sharing her story, she hopes to raise awareness about the issue of surveillance and to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.