Live-in nanny awarded $4 million after sickening discovery in smoke detector
Kelly Andrade worked as an au-pair for fast-food mogul Michael Esposito, his wife and their four children, when she made the horrifying discovery.
A "petrified" live-in nanny, who found hundreds of hours of footage of herself in the nude after discovering a hidden camera concealed in a smoke detector in her bedroom, has been awarded an incredible $4 million in damages from her former boss.
Kelly Andrade, 28, flew from Colombia to New York in 2021 to work as an au-pair for fast-food chicken mogul Michael Esposito, 35, his wife and their four children. Andrade quickly became suspicious of Esposito, who she said frequently "fiddled" with the smoke detector in her bedroom, in Tottenville on Staten Island.
After just three weeks in the job, Andrade uncovered a tiny camera hidden in the smoke detector, and quickly found a memory card containing hundreds of hours of footage of her in various states of undress. Alarmed, Esposito then reportedly raced home "within minutes" to intercept Andrade, trying to break down her door.
Nanny says former employer's sentencing 'not good enough'
Believing he may have been armed, Andrade, who said she feared for her safety, then jumped out the window and fled on foot. She claims she injured herself while trying to escape and then slept "on the street in a bush" on her first night out of the home.
The next day she attended a nearby police station, where she handed in the footage, The New York Post reported.
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Esposito was eventually arrested on a charge of unlawful surveillance in March 2021, then in 2024 being ordered to pay US$780,000 in emotional distress damages as well as US$2 million in punitive damages — totalling $2.8 million (A$4 million), this month.
Andrade said she trained for over a hundred hours prior to taking up the job and criticised Esposito's sentencing, arguing he inflicted "irreversible damage" upon her.
"It’s not enough for the whole situation I’ve been through these three years," Andrade told The Post. "I was angry because the damage that he caused me is irreversible.
"Right now I’m working on myself recovering. It wasn’t easy for me to be on a trial. It was a very difficult time for me. It brings back memories that I’m trying to forget."
Esposito was ordered to undergo counselling and satisfy two years probation.
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