Jail nurse and prison officer accused of having 'inappropriate relationships' with SAME inmate
BRIDGEND, UNITED KINGDOM: Two female officers are accused of having a relationship with the same inmate, a court has heard. Nurse Elyse Hibbs and custody officer Ruth Shmylo, both 25, have been charged with misconduct after the alleged “inappropriate relationships” while working in the jail. The women are accused of becoming involved with the inmate at the category B Parc Prison in Bridgend. The man has been not been named in the court charges.
Shmylo's alleged five-month relationship is said to have taken place between December and April 2021. Hibbs then allegedly got involved with the same man between May and July, according to Daily Mail. Qualified nurse Hibbs is accused of misconduct while working at two prisons, the 1,652-capacity HMP Parc and HMP Manchester known as Strangeways, 210 miles away. The defendants appeared before magistrates in Cardiff earlier recently. They will be next presented before a judge at Cardiff Crown Court in September.
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The charge against Hibbs states, "While acting as a public officer, namely prison nurse, wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner."
The charge against Shmylo reads, "While acting as a public officer, namely a prison custody officer, wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder by engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner."
Neither defendant has yet entered a plea to the common law charges. Hibbs, of Newbridge, Gwent, and Shmylo, of Pontypridd, will next appear in court for a plea and trial preparation hearing, the report stated.
MEAWW previously reported a similar type of incident in Iowa where a former worker at a county jail was arrested for engaging in sexual activity with an inmate in August 2022. The 27-year-old faced charges of sexual misconduct with an unidentified offender, aged 29, while she worked at the Tama County Jail. Kayla Bergom was accused of sexual activity with an inmate in a utility closet and the recreation yard area of the jail on multiple occasions. According to court documents, the two participated in such acts for over seven months between September 2020 and April 2021. Bergom faced three counts of sexual misconduct.
According to the non-profit think tank Interrogating Justice, "Federal law makes it illegal for prison guards to have sex with incarcerated people. This is because incarcerated people cannot legally give consent. If a prison guard has sex with an incarcerated person, the guard can face up to 15 years in prison."