A prison officer knows that engaging in a sexual relationship with an inmate risks not only their job, but their safety and ultimately their liberty.
But for some, it appears to be a risk worth taking. There was the case of a prison officer, Rebecca King, from Selby in North Yorkshire, was jailed for three years for helping her inmate lover by putting credit on his phone.
And in 2009, a prison officer who had a baby with an inmate at HM Aylesbury Young Offenders’ Institution in Buckinghamshire was jailed for two-and-a-half years. Female prisoners in England and Wales have been coerced into having sex with both male and female staff in return for favours such as alcohol and cigarettes, according to a report by the Howard League for Penal Reform. Many custodial facilities have implemented anti-fraternization policies that regulate contact between staff and inmates. These policies either limit, or altogether prohibit, interactions between employees and inmates and their families. Correctional employees who are adversely affected by their agency’s anti-fraternization policies most often challenge these polices under the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to freedom of association.