4 Prison Workers Caught in Sexual Dalliances with Inmates on Surveillance Video

Four female prison food-service workers have been fired from their jobs amid allegations they engaged in sexual dalliances with prisoners in a walk-in cooler at a correctional facility in Ionia.

The workers, who are employed by Philadelphia-based Aramark, a private contractor providing meal services in Michigan’s prisons, were caught on surveillance video, were caught on surveillance video, the Detroit Free Press reports.

All four work at the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility. Corrections Department spokesman Russ Marlan said it’s “unprecedented” for four workers at the same facility to be fired on the same day for the same offenses.

“It’s concerning on a number of levels,” he said.

The workers didn’t engage in sexual intercourse with inmates, but conduct that included kissing and fondling with several of them. Marlan said he didn’t think all four of the workers were in the cooler at the same time.

It’s not the first time a prison worker got too friendly with inmates, according to an earlier story in the Detroit Free Press. In February, a worker was fired and banned after she was caught kneeling in front of a male inmate engaged in a sex act.

In another instance,the Free Press reports, another worker tried to smuggle marijuana to an inmate in Jackson.

Aramark took over food-service operations of Michigan’s sprawling correctional system in December, eliminating 370 state jobs in the $145-million, three-year deal. Since then, more than 80 workers have fired for various reasons as concerns about the private contractor have mounted.

One of the latest problems was the discovery of maggots near the food service line at the Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson after about 30 inmates were sickened.