A Manhattan jury has awarded $2.78 million to a Colombian au pair who was secretly videotaped by Michael Esposito, the owner of three LaRosa Grill franchises and a fast-food chicken mogul. Esposito was arrested in 2021 on charges of unlawful surveillance, but instead of serving jail time, he was allowed to walk free under probation after receiving counseling for one year. Kelly Andrade, the victim, expressed her disappointment with the outcome, stating that “the damage that he caused me is irreversible.
The disturbing events began in 2021 when Andrade, after undergoing hundreds of hours of training, was hired by Cultural Care Au Pair to come to the US and care for Esposito’s four young kids. She was given a bedroom in the Espositos’ home while they temporarily stayed at Danielle’s parents’ waterfront property due to ongoing renovations on their nearby $2.3 million mansion.
Less than three weeks into her job, Andrade discovered a hidden camera inside a ceiling smoke detector that had been constantly repositioned by Esposito, who she claimed was often found in her room fiddling with the device. The camera contained memory cards filled with “hundreds of recordings” capturing Andrade nude or dressing/undressing.
Within minutes of finding the hidden camera, Esposito arrived at the house, appearing nervous and worried. Andrade pretended to be asleep in a bid to get him to leave but he began banging on her door. She entered “fight or flight mode,” leaping from a first-floor window and injuring her knee.
The first night after leaving the Espositos, Andrade slept on the street in a bush. She reported the incident to the police at the 123rd Precinct who arrested Esposito on March 24, 2021. In April 2022, Esposito entered into a two-step plea deal after “successfully completing” a year of counseling and was permitted to withdraw his felony plea. He pled down to attempted unlawful surveillance, a misdemeanor, with only two years probation.
During the four-day civil trial at Brooklyn Federal Court this month, Andrade testified for three days, while Esposito did not take the stand. The jury awarded $780,000 in emotional distress damages against both Michael and his wife Danielle Esposito, as well as $2 million in punitive damages against Michael Esposito alone.
Andrade is now working on her own recovery and encouraging other victims of abuse to come forward and report their aggressors. She has settled her lawsuit with Cultural Care Au Pair for an undisclosed sum.
