Judge rejects attorney's attempt to drop man's sex voyeurism charges

TAMPA, Fla. - Rudolfo Palermo shook his head and didn’t like what he was hearing during a virtual hearing Wednesday. The 40-year-old is accused of several counts of video voyeurism and sexual battery.  

Prosecutor say he secretly recorded one victim during a sex act and later attempted to extort a second victim by threatening to post sex videos and pictures of her -- if she didn’t continue to have sex with him and other men.

During the hearing, Palermo‘s attorney was asking for the voyeurism charges be dropped, accusing victim number one of being a willing participant. But the victim denied it.

Rudolfo Palermo

"No, I never consented," she said. 

The victim did admit to recording a second victim in a sex act with her permission.

"At this point [Palermo] wanted me to take pictures of her, so I did."
 
But the defense argued the victim "implied" consent because of her participation in the sexual activity. During questioning, they tried to box her in, but she didn’t fall for it. 

"Well, no, I didn’t consent to him recording me," she insisted.

The legal argument fell flat with the judge, ruling the charges will stick and Palermo is now heading to trial in April.