NYC jury awards $2.78M to au pair who was secretly filmed by creepy chicken mogul

A Manhattan jury has awarded $2.78 million to a “petrified” au pair who was secretly videotaped by a creepy Staten Island dad and fast-food chicken mogul — but the victim is outraged he got only a “slap on the wrist” from prosecutors.Michael Esposito, 35, recorded “hundreds” of nude videos of Colombia native Kelly Andrade, 25, then tried to break down her door as she cowered in fear after finding a hidden camera in her bedroom, according to a Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit.He was arrested in 2021 on a charge of unlawful surveillance, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

But the Staten Island District Attorney and a Staten Island judge instead allowed Esposito to walk, provided he undergo counseling and satisfy two years probation.“It’s not enough for the whole situation I’ve been through these three years.It’s not enough,” Andrade told The Post before breaking down in tears.

“I was angry because the damage that he caused me is irreversible.”The twisted episode unfolded in 2021.The South American woman underwent hundreds of hours of training before being hired by Cultural Care Au Pair — a placement firm — and coming to the US, where the company situated her with Esposito, the owner of three LaRosa Grill franchises, and his wife, Danielle. The Espositos were staying in Danielle’s parents waterfront Tottenville home while their nearby $2.3 million mansion was being renovated.The Espositos gave Andrade a bedroom to sleep in while she cared for their four young kids, but the au pair claimed she kept catching Esposito in her room, fiddling with the ceiling smoke detector, which “was constantly being repositioned,” according to the lawsuit. Less than three weeks into the job, she examined the smoke detector, finding a camera inside with a memory card filled with “hundreds of recordings,” many capturing her “nude and/or dressing/undressing,” she charged in the lawsuit.“Within minutes” of her finding the dev...