A “flirtatious” prison librarian sexually assaulted two inmates in the prison library after having an alleged sexual relationship with a third convict, a court heard yesterday.
Sharon Mawdsley, 46, worked in the library at Kirkham Open Prison in Lancashire and used her position to carry out six separate sexual assaults on two female prisoners in the library.
Prosecutor David Bentley told Preston Crown Court that Mawdsley had been “very open and explicit about her own sexual activities” when speaking to inmates in the library.
One of the alleged victims said Mawdsley behaved “like an animal” when she touched him sexually and bragged about attending swingers’ parties and having lesbian sex in front of her husband.
Mawdsley (pictured in 2018) acted professionally around his co-workers but spoke in a “highly sexualized and crude manner” after they left in the evening, prosecutors allege.
Librarian is accused of grabbing inmates’ genitals and also describing her love of lesbian sex
She also asked inmates about their sexual preferences and whether they watched pornography.
Mr Bentley told the court: “She used her position to sexually abuse both complainants in the library environment for her own sexual gratification.”
Mr Bentley told the jury that Mawdsley, from Blackpool, was employed by Lancashire County Council and worked ten hours a week as a part-time library assistant from May 2017 after going through a clearance vetting process of security.
He said: “Kirkham Prison is an open prison and therefore provides minimum security, with eligible prisoners allowed time away from their cells to work, study and attend resettlement courses. »
He said that in July 2018, library manager Sarah Fleming noticed “whispered discussions” between two inmates.
Mr Bentley said: “When they were arrested they told Miss Fleming that Mawdsley was having an inappropriate sexual relationship in the library with a prisoner.
“Rumors said she had sex in the library.”
He said Ms Fleming spoke to prison security chief Graham Bristow, who spoke to four alleged victims.
Mr Bentley said: ‘They said Mawdsley normally appeared to be very professional, but when working alone in the library in the evenings she became flirtatious and sexual and made advances at them.’
He said Mr Bristow ordered the immediate transfer of an alleged victim to another prison and that a search of his cell revealed an iPhone in a laundry bag as well as a piece of paper with the name and Mawdsley’s personal information.
The prison’s deputy governor, Neil Wherrier, gave Mawdsley an “exclusion order” and was told not to come to work.
The following week a meeting was held at Lancashire County Council, at County Hall in Preston, to consider the allegations.
Mawdsley allegedly assaulted numerous men at Kirkham Prison, Lancashire, where she worked until July 2018.
Mawdsley admitted at the meeting to providing his phone number to Morrell, having unauthorized phone conversations and text messages with a prisoner and knowing that a prisoner on duty possessed an unauthorized cell phone without reporting it to authorities.
She was told the police would be informed and she was fired on July 26.
Mr Bentley said the first complainant spoke to the prison chaplain about the alleged assaults and the chaplain remembered the inmate being “anxious and very worried”.
The prosecutor said: “The inmate said a member of staff had sexually assaulted and attacked him. He said she grabbed other inmates’ private parts and behaved like an animal.
Mr Bentley said the inmate told probation officer Kelly Baker that Mawdsley had sexually assaulted him on numerous occasions.
The prosecutor said: “He said she was very open about her personal life and was sexually explicit about her own activities and what she liked to do. She asked them about their sexual preferences and if they watched porn.
“He found it uncomfortable but that didn’t deter her. He felt that the more uncomfortable she made him, the more attractive and exciting it became.
Mr Bentley said the second complainant claimed Mawdsley was usually “very professional”, but when she was the only member of staff on duty “she completely transformed into someone else talking about a highly sexualized and crude manner.”
He added: “He remembers the highly sexualized topics she discussed in the library. She talked about swingers parties, lesbian sex in front of her husband and was involved in group sex.
The court heard Mawdsley told police she denied the allegations and did not find any of the complainants “vaguely attractive”.
The first complainant told the court Mawdsley’s actions made him “uncomfortable”.
He said his relationship with prisoner Stephen Morrell was well known in the prison and that he had interrupted Mawdsley and Morrell sitting at a desk in the prison library with Morrell’s hand under Mawdsley’s skirt.
Mawdsley denies six counts of sexual assault by touching – four against one inmate and two against another. She pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct in public office at an earlier hearing.
The trial continues.
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